Two dogmas of dynamicism.

I critically discuss two dogmas of the "dynamical approach" to spacetime in general relativity, as advanced by Harvey Brown [Physical Relativity (2005) Oxford:Oxford University Press] and collaborators. The first dogma is that positing a "spacetime geometry" has no implications for the behavior of m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Synthese Vol. 199; no. 2; pp. 253 - 276
Autor principal: Weatherall, James Owen
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Springer Nature Dec2021 Supplement 2
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:I critically discuss two dogmas of the "dynamical approach" to spacetime in general relativity, as advanced by Harvey Brown [Physical Relativity (2005) Oxford:Oxford University Press] and collaborators. The first dogma is that positing a "spacetime geometry" has no implications for the behavior of matter. The second dogma is that postulating the "Strong Equivalence Principle" suffices to ensure that matter is "adapted" to spacetime geometry. I conclude by discussing "spacetime functionalism". The discussion is presented in reaction to and sympathy with recent work by James Read ["Explanation, geometry, and conspiracy in relativity theory" (2020) Thinking about Spacetime Boston: Birkäuser].