Moderate structural realism about space-time

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Serval ID
serval:BIB_12BD19C94207
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Institution
Title
Moderate structural realism about space-time
Journal
Synthese
Author(s)
Esfeld Michael, Lam Vincent
ISSN
0039-7857
1573-0964
Publication state
Published
Issued date
01/2008
Peer-reviewed
Oui
Volume
160
Number
1
Pages
27-46
Language
english
Abstract
This paper sets out a moderate version of metaphysical structural realism that stands in contrast to both the epistemic structural realism of Worrall and the—radical—ontic structural realism of French and Ladyman. According to moderate structural realism, objects and relations (structure) are on the same ontological footing, with the objects being characterized only by the relations in which they stand. We show how this position fares well as regards philosophical arguments, avoiding the objections against the other two versions of structural realism. In particular, we set out how this position can be applied to space-time, providing for a convincing understanding of space-time points in the standard tensor formulation of general relativity as well as in the fibre bundle formulation.
Keywords
Fibre bundles, Hole argument, Intrinsic properties, Quantum entanglement, Relations Space-time points, Structural realism
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
03/11/2015 15:21
Last modification date
14/02/2022 7:53
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