What is ontic structural realism?

Ainsworth, Peter M.

doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2009.11.001

Cited by 47 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Applying Carnap's ac- 48 Consider, e.g., [5] and [1] for excellent overviews of the current state of debate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Epsilon-Reconstruction of Theories and Scientific Structuralism

Schiemer

Gratzl

2015

Erkenn

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Rudolf Carnap's mature work on the logical reconstruction of scientific theories consists of two components. The first is the elimination of the theoretical vocabulary of a theory in terms of its Ramsification. The second is the reintroduction of the theoretical terms through explicit definitions in a language containing an epsilon operator. This paper investigates Carnap's epsilon-reconstruction of theories in the context of pure mathematics. The main objective here is twofold: first, to specify the epsilon logic underlying his suggested definition of theoretical terms and a suitable choice semantics for it. Second, to analyze whether Carnap's approach is compatible with a structuralist conception of mathematics.

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“…Applying Carnap's ac- 48 Consider, e.g., [5] and [1] for excellent overviews of the current state of debate.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 Questions of this sort are usually referred to as "the problem of theoretical terms" (e.g. [28,37,2,25]).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Epsilon-Reconstruction of Theories and Scientific Structuralism

Schiemer

Gratzl

2015

Erkenn

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“…This latter relationship between relations and relational properties should however be reminded in order to avoid some confusion about the ontological commitment of OSR: contrary to what Ainsworth (2010) claims, OSR is not committed to saying that entangled quantum systems have no properties.…”

Section: Ontological Aspects Of Quantum Field Theorymentioning

confidence: 96%

The Entanglement Structure of Quantum Field Systems

Lam

2013

International Studies in the Philosophy of Science

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This essay considers the question of the ontology of relativistic quantum field theory (RQFT). It aims to discuss possible implications of the peculiarities of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within the algebraic approach to RQFT. Fundamental results such as the Reeh-Schlieder theorem do not only show that quantum entanglement is a truly central feature of RQFT, but also that quantum entanglement displays specific features that are absent at the level of quantum mechanics (QM). Although these technical results are well-known, their possible implications for the ontology of the theory have been surprisingly little discussed. In particular, I will consider how the board ontic structural realist understanding of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within QM naturally applies to RQFT and can contribute to the debate on the ontology of the theory. More generally, this essay aims to illustrate the relevance of the peculiar status of quantum entanglement and quantum non-locality within RQFT for the ontological debate.

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“…It is sometimes suggested that in an EPR-Bell-experiment and thus in the singlet state, there are prior to measurement not two quantum objects that are related by entanglement (as proposed by Teller 1986 in his seminal paper on relational holism), but only one total object that has the disposition to manifest itself in measurement as two objects whose observables are correlated in a certain way (see e.g. Morganti 2009, p. 1031, Ainsworth 2010, and the reservations that Dieks and Versteegh 2008, pp. 928-934, voice against speaking of two weakly discernible objects in a case like the singlet state).…”

Section: A Conceptual In Contrast To An Ontological Distinctionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ontic Structural Realism as a Metaphysics of Objects

Esfeld

Lam

2010

Boston Studies in the Philosophy and History of Science

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The paper spells out five different accounts of the relationship between objects and relations three of which are versions of ontic structural realism (OSR). We argue that the distinction between objects and properties, including relations, is merely a conceptual one by contrast to an ontological one: properties, including relations, are modes, that is the concrete, particular ways in which objects exist. We then set out moderate OSR as the view according to which irreducible relations are central ways in which the fundamental physical objects exist. Physical structures thus consist in objects for whom it is essential that they are related in certain ways. There hence are objects, but they do not possess an intrinsic identity. This view can also admit intrinsic properties as ways in which objects exist provided that these do not amount to identity conditions for the objects. Finally, we indicate how this view can take objective modality into account. IntroductionIn a first approach, ontic structural realism (OSR) is a realism towards physical structures in the sense of networks of concrete physical relations, without these relations being dependent on fundamental physical objects that possess an intrinsic identity as their relata. In that vein, OSR has been developed in recent years as a metaphysics of contemporary fundamental physics, mainly non-relativistic quantum mechanics (QM), relativistic quantum field theory (QFT) and the general theory of relativity (GTR) shown to support OSR in the following sense: these fundamental physical features can with good reason be taken to suggest all the same conclusion, namely that the fundamental physical objects -whatever they are according to the theory under consideration -are parts (relata) of a physical structure in the sense of a network of concrete physical relations. These objects do not have any existence -and in particular not any identity -independently of the structure they are part of (that is, the relations they bear to each other)..To be more precise, the original papers on OSR -mainly Ladyman (1998) and French and Ladyman (2003) -consider OSR to be supported by a fundamental underdetermination about 1 We are greatful to Tim Raez, Jakob Sprickerhof and Christian Wüthrich for helpful comments on the draft of this paper.

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What is ontic structural realism?

Cited by 47 publications

References 22 publications

The Epsilon-Reconstruction of Theories and Scientific Structuralism

The Epsilon-Reconstruction of Theories and Scientific Structuralism

The Entanglement Structure of Quantum Field Systems

Ontic Structural Realism as a Metaphysics of Objects

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