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If substantivalism (absolutism) holds that space is an independently existing entity, and relationism claims that space is only a relation between such entities, then what do alternative ontologies of space, which are allegedly neither substantivalist nor relationist, contend? This chapter will begin the discussion of this central question, although, as will become apparent throughout our investigation, there is much uncertainty regarding the content and scope of both substantivalism and relationism as well. In §1.1, a brief overview of the ideas and influences that have shaped the contemporary evolution and understanding of the standard dichotomy, i.e., substantivalism and relationism, will be provided, whereas §1.2 will offer a preliminary categorization of alternative spatial ontologies. In contrast, §1.3 will examine the background to the modern dichotomy at the beginning of the seventeenth century, that is, in the period just prior to the contributions of Newton and Leibniz, as well as provide a brief synopsis of the concepts that guided Descartes' natural philosophy of space and motion. This section of the chapter will begin to reveal the extraordinary obstacles that face any attempt to draw a clear line of conceptual lineage from the natural philosophy of space typically practiced in the seventeenth century to the presuppositions that inform the modern dichotomy.

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-44868-8_1

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