Algebraic Fields and the Dynamical Approach to Physical Geometry.

Brown and Pooley's 'dynamical approach' to physical theories asserts, in opposition to the orthodox position on physical geometry, that facts about physical geometry are grounded in, or explained by, facts about dynamical fields, not the other way round. John Norton has claimed that the proponent of...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Philosophy of Science Vol. 86; no. 5; pp. 1273 - 1284
Autor principal: Menon, Tushar
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cambridge University Press Dec2019
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:Brown and Pooley's 'dynamical approach' to physical theories asserts, in opposition to the orthodox position on physical geometry, that facts about physical geometry are grounded in, or explained by, facts about dynamical fields, not the other way round. John Norton has claimed that the proponent of the dynamical approach is illicitly committed to spatiotemporal presumptions in 'constructing' space-time from facts about dynamical symmetries. In this article, I present an abstract, algebraic formulation of field theories and demonstrate that the proponent of the dynamical approach is not committed, in special relativity, to the illicit presumptions to which Norton refers.