Conception of Absolute and Relative Space in Philosophy and Their Relationship to the Territoriality of the Modern State

Abstract

The paper seeks to find the relationship between the philosophical debate
on absolute and relative space and the IR debate on territoriality. It shows
the relation between the absolute space concept and the territorial
definition of the modern state. It also seeks to find parallels between
relativity and relative space on one hand and the current questioning of
territoriality and attempts to find a substitute for it on the other. Due to the
fact that relativity has not been overthrown in philosophy of physics, the
article concludes that we cannot expect a relative conception of space to
disappear from IR either.