Spinning Shadows

Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 72 (2):345 - 365 (2006)
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Abstract

If a spinning sphere casts a shadow, does the shadow also spin? This riddle is the point of departure for an investigation into the nature of shadow movement. A general theory of motion will encompass all moving things, not just physical objects. Ultimately, I argue that round shadows do indeed spin. Shadows are followers of the objects that cast them. Parts of the shadow correspond to parts of the leader, so motion of the caster's parts accounts for motions of the shadow's parts. I conclude with a discussion of how the dynamic aspects of shadows impose subtle constraints on other puzzles about shadows

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Roy Sorensen
University of Texas at Austin

Citations of this work

Purpose-Relativity and Ontology.Nurbay Irmak - 2014 - Dissertation, University of Miami

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References found in this work

New Essays on Human Understanding.Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz - 1981 - New York: Cambridge University Press. Edited by Peter Remnant & Jonathan Bennett.
Proof of an external world.George Edward Moore - 1939 - Proceedings of the British Academy 25 (5):273--300.
Commonplace Book, 1919-1953.George Edward Moore (ed.) - 1962 - New York: Routledge.
The kinetic depth effect.Hans Wallach & D. N. O'Connell - 1953 - Journal of Experimental Psychology 45 (4):205.

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