Spatial Relations Are External

The thesis I wish to argue for in this article is that spatial relations such as occupying (a certain place) and being 1 km distant from (something) are external. In the “Section 1” section, I shall introduce the distinction between external and internal relations and some other basic concepts in the ontology of relations. Afterwards, in the subsequent sections, I shall deal with different theories of space: substantivalism and relationism (the “Section 2” section); the spatial property theory (the “Section 3” section); super-substantivalism and super-relationism (the “Section 4” section); and spatial essentialism (the “Section 5” section). I shall demonstrate that, in all such theories, spatial relations need to be considered external. Otherwise, unacceptable consequences or spatial properties that are non-relational by mere façon de parler are in order. Finally, in the “Section 6” section, I shall briefly tackle length contraction in special relativity theory.