笛卡尔的时空几何化思想
Descartes’ Geometric View of Space-Time

几何化是笛卡尔时空观的关键特征。笛卡尔力图将数学精确性引入一切科学知识的理念，以及解析几何对代数与空间的沟通，是时空几何化的基础。借助于物质、空间和广延这三个概念之间的关系，笛卡尔实现了空间的几何化，几何学中没有时间这一因素，因此时间的几何化通过时间的空间化得到了实现。时空几何化直接影响了笛卡尔的自然科学思想，造成了宇宙的同质性、运动的相对性思想的产生以及机械论自然观的发展。同时，它也限制了笛卡尔物理学的进一步发展，但在现代物理学中又提供了思想资源。
Geometry is the key to Descartes’ view of space-time. Descartes’ attempt to introduce mathematical precision into all scientific knowledge, as well as the communication between algebra and space in analytic geometry, are the basis of geometric space-time. Based on the relationship between matter, space, and extension, Descartes realized the geometry of space. There is no such factor as time in geometry, so the geometry of time is realized through the spatialization of time. The geometry of space-time directly influenced Descartes’ natural science thought, resulting in the homogeneity of the universe, the relativity of motion, and the development of a mechanistic view of nature. At the same time, it also limits the further development of Cartesian physics but provides ideological resources for modern physics.