Is there a Syntactic Solution to the Hole Problem?

Rynasiewicz, Robert

doi:10.1086/289936

Cited by 10 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Exceptions includeMundy (1992) andLeeds (1995), to whose syntactic or formal responsesRynasiewicz (1996) has critically replied.3 SeeRynasiewicz (1992) andRosenstock et al (2015) for critical discussion of Earman's proposal for Leibniz/Einstein algebras as one such formal replacement.…”

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confidence: 99%

On Representational Capacities, with an Application to General Relativity

Fletcher

2018

Found Phys

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Recent work on the hole argument in general relativity by Weatherall (2016b) has drawn attention to the neglected concept of (mathematical) models' representational capacities. I argue for several theses about the structure of these capacities, including that they should be understood not as many-to-one relations from models to the world, but in general as many-tomany relations constrained by the models' isomorphisms. I then compare these ideas with a recent argument by Belot (2017) for the claim that some isometries "generate new possibilities" in general relativity. Philosophical orthodoxy, by contrast, denies this. Properly understanding the role of representational capacities, I argue, reveals how Belot's rejection of orthodoxy does not go far enough, and makes better sense of our practices in theorizing about spacetime. * I would like to thank Gordon Belot, Neil Dewar, Ben Feintzeig, Jim Weatherall, and an anonymous referee for encouraging comments on a previous draft of this essay, which was written in part with the support from a Marie Curie Fellowship (PIIF-GA-2013-628533).1 See also Earman (1989). For reviews of the vast literature on the subject, from a range of philosophical and physical perspectives, including its bearing on broader debates about the metaphysics of spacetime, see Pooley (2013), Stachel (2014), Norton (2015, and references therein.

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confidence: 99%

On Representational Capacities, with an Application to General Relativity

Fletcher

2018

Found Phys

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“…We interpret the appearance of quantum-mechanical correlations as an indication that there must be something amiss with the current geometric description-which leads to the futile problem of the geometric ether-and as evidence of physical things beyond geometry. 23 In other words, we understand what we presently 22 Special care must be taken here not to confuse points with events. 23 In fact, the consideration of quantum-mechanical ideas in themselves involves, from our point of view, the need for non-geometric physical things.…”

Section: Beyond the Geometric Ethermentioning

confidence: 96%

“…23 In other words, we understand what we presently 22 Special care must be taken here not to confuse points with events. 23 In fact, the consideration of quantum-mechanical ideas in themselves involves, from our point of view, the need for non-geometric physical things. In a future article, we will present quantum theory on the basis of measurement results a i , and metageometric premeasurement and transition things, P(a i ) and P(a j |a i ), familiar to human experience.…”

Section: Beyond the Geometric Ethermentioning

confidence: 96%

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Is Empty Spacetime a Physical Thing?

Meschini

Lehto

2006

Found Phys

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This article deals with empty spacetime and the question of its physical reality. By "empty spacetime" we mean a collection of bare spacetime points, the remains of ridding spacetime of all matter and fields. We ask whether these geometric objects-themselves intrinsic to the concept of field-might be observable through some physical test. By taking quantum-mechanical notions into account, we challenge the negative conclusion drawn from the diffeomorphism invariance postulate of general relativity, and we propose new foundational ideas regarding the possible observation-as well as conceptual overthrow-of this geometric ether.

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“…As Rynasiewicz (1996b) points out, the analogy with mathematics is misleading in one important respect. To say that numbers are abstract roles is not to deny that they exist or that they fall into the broad ontological category that any philosopher of mathematics would take them to fall into, viz.…”

Section: Structuralism V3: Spacetime Points As Abstract Roles In Isommentioning

confidence: 99%

In Search of (Spacetime) Structuralism

Greaves

2011

Philosophical Perspectives

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Structuralism is supposed to be a dissolver of metaphysical pseudo-debates. This paper is a search for the thesis behind the rhetoric. Taking 'spacetime structuralism' as a case study, I identify six different theses that seem to share this name. My conclusions are largely negative: that those theses that are new are not plausible, and vice versa. The exception is structuralism as a rejection of the fundamentality of the object/property/relation framework, but in this case it is as yet unclear what the positive thesis might be.

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Is there a Syntactic Solution to the Hole Problem?

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

On Representational Capacities, with an Application to General Relativity

On Representational Capacities, with an Application to General Relativity

Is Empty Spacetime a Physical Thing?

In Search of (Spacetime) Structuralism

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