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Gauge and metaphysics of spacetime.

Some authors have argued that spacetime in general relativity should be given a radically different interpretation from the ones given to spacetime in other theories in virtue of it being a gauge theory. In this article I review this sort of argument and argue against this view. That is, I argue tha...

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Published in:Synthese Vol. 208; no. 2; pp. 1 - 22
Main Author: Mozota Frauca, Álvaro
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Aug2026
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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        10.1007/s11229-026-05677-9
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        au: Mozota Frauca, Álvaro
        affil: https://ror.org/03mb6wj31 Department of Architectural Technology, Division of Mathematics, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Av. Diagonal 649, 08028, Barcelona, Spain
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      keyword:
        Gauge theory
        General relativity
        Philosophy and Religious Studies Philosophy
        Philosophy of spacetime
      ab: Some authors have argued that spacetime in general relativity should be given a radically different interpretation from the ones given to spacetime in other theories in virtue of it being a gauge theory. In this article I review this sort of argument and argue against this view. That is, I argue that spacetime in general relativity can be understood analogously to spacetime in other models and that the argument from the diffeomorphism invariance of the theory misapplies the concepts of gauge theory to a context in which they are of limited application.
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    language: English
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