A Philosophical Inquiry into the Possibility or Impossibility of Transcending the Speed of Light

In this study, starting from the nature of light, the scientific and philosophical meaning dimensions of the speed of light and time are discussed. The metaphysical and experimental foundations of light theories from Ancient Greece to the Middle Ages are analyzed. Then, with Einstein's Special Relativity, the universal constancy of the speed of light and how this constancy reconstructs the concepts of space, time and causality through Lorentz transformations are revealed. Speculative superluminal (faster-than-light) models such as tachyons, warp drive and wormholes are evaluated within the framework of both theoretical boundary-crossing attempts and philosophical discussions on causal violations. Through the examples of quantum entanglement and cosmic inflation, flexible interpretations of the absoluteness status of the speed of light in the universe are presented, while time-speed images in the Qur'an and other religious texts are examinedwith a critical look at the anachronistic interpretations established by modern physics. This borderland, where physical reality and ontological and epistemological questions intersect, points to an in-depth philosophical reading of both the possibilities and limitations of human thought.

Journal

BEYTULHIKME-AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY

Year

2026

Volume

16

Pages

65-82

ISSN

1303-8303

DOI

10.29228/beytulhikme.81897

WoS UID

WOS:001724471700004