The Writings of Charles De Koninck: Volume 1

Introduction

Introduction Sir Arthur Eddington was born in Kendal, England, on 28 December 1882. His father was the principal of the Quaker School at Stramongate, the school in which John Dalton had been sub-master. Eddington himself is a fervent Quaker and, as we shall see, his religion has had a profound influence on his philosophy. He received his higher education in Manchester first, at Owen College, and then at Trinity College, Cambridge. It was there that he was the “senior wrangler” in 1904, a title given the student who excels in mathematics and literature equally. His writings have an exceptional literary value. His knowledge of classical and modern literature is astonishing. In 1907 he was given the Smith prize from his college and in the following year was elected a Fellow of that celebrated institution. His first scientific writings were published while he was assistant to the head of the Greenwich Observatory (1906‒ ‒1913). To that point he seemed destined to have a career as a professional astronomer. But in 1913 he was named Professor of Astronomy in the Plumian Chair at the University of Cambridge, a chair that he still occupies today. In 1914, he was put in charge of the Cambridge Observatory and in that same year was named a Fellow of the Royal Society. He is a member of many scientific societies, in England and abroad. He has been awarded prizes and medals everywhere, too many to enumerate here. In 1930, he was knighted and acquired the title Sir.1 In 1920 another Eddington showed himself with the publication of a work which marked an epoch in the philosophy of science: Space, Time, and Gravitation. This work demarked for the first time the domains of science and of philosophy in what concerns the theory of relativity. With this work he became the leader of philosophers of science. And he inspired con- fidence, because he was himself one of the most celebrated representatives of modern science. With him, there could be no question of preconceived ideas.  It has been said that the work is merely one of popularization. It is much more than that. It is first of all a philosophical contribution to the problem of modern science. His contributions have not been merely negative, as has been the case with many other modern scientists, Einstein included, who are content to chase philosophers from their domain—very rightly, moreover. In the work, The Analysis of Matter, Lord Bertrand Russell writes:“(Eddington ), better than Einstein or Weyl, has the theory (of relativity) in the form best adapted to the needs of philosophers. . . . In philosophy, I have been guided almost exclusively by Eddington.”2 The Nature of the Physical World, the Gifford Lectures of 1927, were an even more important revelation than the preceding work. The demands of these lectures in Edinburgh obliged him to deal with transcendental problems , something he did with extraordinary skill. This work assured him of a place among the most distinguished contemporary philosophers. He has been sharply criticized but today everyone must take him into account. For us, Eddington has a double interest. First, he has carefully delimited the philosophical problem of relativity and quantum indetermination. But he has also given us a rather complete metaphysical system. He calls himself an idealist, an interesting point, because he says that he was carried toward idealism by his scientific work.3 The problem of the relation between scientific knowledge (in the restricted sense) and metaphysical knowledge interests us profoundly, especially because this problem is presented in a rather embroiled way by our own philosophers. Perhaps Eddington, who knows the sciences in depth, and who is no less a philosopher, offers us a chance to make the relation precise.  | Charles De Koninck ...