The container theory of space is a metaphysical theory according to which space is a background against which objects rest and move, with the implication that it can continue to exist in the absence of matter. Its opposite is the relational theory. Isaac Newton favoured absolute time and space and the container theory, against Gottfried Leibniz who was a relationist. The subject was famously debated with Samuel Clarke in the Leibniz–Clarke correspondence.Bennett, J., Space and Subtle Matter in Descartes's Metaphysics in New Essays on the Rationalists, February 2003, pp. 3-26(24) Oxford Scholarship Online Monographs
At first glance, the physical theory of relativity weighs in favour of relational space, but the general theory of relativity re-introduces some container-like features such as the possibility of completely empty universes.Hoefer, C., "The Metaphysics of Space-Time Substantivalism", The Journal of Philosophy, Vol. 93, No. 1 (Jan., 1996), pp. 5-27
An absolute approach can also be applied to time, with, for instance, the implication that there might have been vast epochs of time before the first event.Physics and Metaphysics: Theories of Space and Time by Jennifer Trusted, Routledge, 1991 .
See also René Descartes Philosophy of space and time Spacetime Time Theory of relativity
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