Explanation, analyticity and constitutive principles in spacetime theories

Sús, Adán

doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2018.08.002

Cited by 6 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…43 The final step is provided by the following result: if the action is invariant (up to a divergence term) under certain transformations, then the equations of motion derived from it through Hamilton's principle are form invariant under such transformations. 44 Then, from the conservation expressions ∂ b T ab = 0, we have proved the existence of equations of motion that are Poincaré invariant. As this holds only on certain neighbourhoods of each point, the claim has only local approximate validity.…”

Section: How the Gravitational Field Equations Constrain Matter Lawsmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…In view of this, the DA accepts, like the GA, the ontological autonomy of the metric, which means that it may be possible that its symmetries be different from the symmetries 1 Examples of the geometrical approach can be found in [31], [25]. 2 Critical discussions of the limits of the GA can be found in [44], [39], [1], [32], [8] 3 [40], p. 20. 4 Janssen's version of GA (see [25]) claims to be ontologically neutral and not to imply commitment to a sustantivalist perspective.…”

Section: Mr1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…4 Janssen's version of GA (see [25]) claims to be ontologically neutral and not to imply commitment to a sustantivalist perspective. The merits of this version of GA and its success in maintaining the ontological neutrality while providing a distinctive perspective is discussed in [44].…”

Section: Mr1mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As an anonymous reviewer points out, this derivation of the invariance properties of the action presupposes that the equations of motion for the matter fields are satisfied. The reviewer wonders whether this is a legitimate move; my impression is that it is so insofar as we are interested in deriving constraints for equations of motion that can be derived from an action for which the defined energy-momentum tensor is conserved 44. For this result, see[11], section 9.3;[4] 45.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…are standard references for this view in the context of relativity theory. See[43],[44] for a more recent discussion. 63 I borrow this term from[7] to refer to any version of the principle that imposes certain features to the non-gravitational field equations without stating that this can be derived from the gravitational field equations.…”

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confidence: 99%

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Relativity without miracles

Sús

2020

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

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It has been claimed, recently, that the fact that all the non-gravitational fields are locally Poincaré invariant and that these invariances coincide, in a certain regime, with the symmetries of the spacetime metric is miraculous in general relativity (GR). In this paper I show that, in the context of GR, it is possible to account for these so-called miracles of relativity. The way to do so involves integrating the realisation that the gravitational field equations (the Einstein field equation in GR) impose constraints on the behaviour of matter in a novel interpretation of the equivalence principle, which dictates the determination of local inertial frames through gravitational interaction. This proposed explanation of the miracles can also deal with the problematic cases for attempts at explaining them in the context of the standard geometrical perspective on relativity theory.

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Section: How the Gravitational Field Equations Constrain Matter Lawsmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Mr1mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mr1mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Relativity without miracles

Sús

2020

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

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Coordination, Convention and the Constitution of Physical Objects

Sus

2024

J Gen Philos Sci

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In this paper, I address the significance of the key notions of coordination, constitution and convention. My aim in so doing is to provide a better understanding of their relation to conventionalism and to evaluate the prospects for a version of the relativized a priori based on a refinement of the notion of coordination. I stress the Kantian roots of all three concepts. Moreover, I argue that the link between the early logical positivist requirement for the uniqueness of coordination and the Kantian account of empirical objectivity provides an interpretive key that sheds light on the alleged incompatibility between constitutive principles and conventionalism.

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The general-relativistic case for super-substantivalism

Duerr

Calosi

2021

Synthese

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Super-substantivalism (of the type we’ll consider) roughly comprises two core tenets: (1) the physical properties which we attribute to matter (e.g. charge or mass) can be attributed to spacetime directly, with no need for matter as an extraneous carrier “on top of” spacetime; (2) spacetime is more fundamental than (ontologically prior to) matter. In the present paper, we revisit a recent argument in favour of super-substantivalism, based on General Relativity. A critique is offered that highlights the difference between (various accounts of) fundamentality and (various forms of) ontological dependence. This affords a metaphysically more perspicuous view of what super-substantivalism’s tenets actually assert, and how it may be defended. We tentatively propose a re-formulation of the original argument that not only seems to apply to all classical physics, but also chimes with a standard interpretation of spacetime theories in the philosophy of physics.

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Explanation, analyticity and constitutive principles in spacetime theories

Cited by 6 publications

References 14 publications

Relativity without miracles

Relativity without miracles

Coordination, Convention and the Constitution of Physical Objects

The general-relativistic case for super-substantivalism

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