Relationalism about mechanics based on a minimalist ontology of matter

European Journal for Philosophy of Science:1-20 (2016)
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Abstract

This paper elaborates on relationalism about space and time as motivated by a minimalist ontology of the physical world: there are only matter points that are individuated by the distance relations among them, with these relations changing. We assess two strategies to combine this ontology with physics, using classical mechanics as example: the Humean strategy adopts the standard, non-relationalist physical theories as they stand and interprets their formal apparatus as the means of bookkeeping of the change of the distance relations instead of committing us to additional elements of the ontology. The alternative theory strategy seeks to combine the relationalist ontology with a relationalist physical theory that reproduces the predictions of the standard theory in the domain where these are empirically tested. We show that, as things stand, this strategy cannot be accomplished without compromising a minimalist relationalist ontology.

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Author Profiles

Michael Esfeld
University of Lausanne
Antonio Vassallo
Warsaw University of Technology

Citations of this work

When Fields Are Not Degrees of Freedom.Vera Hartenstein & Mario Hubert - 2021 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 72 (1):245-275.
Super-Humeanism: A starving ontology.Dustin Lazarovici - 2018 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 64:79-86.
Unexpected quantum indeterminacy.Andrea Oldofredi - 2024 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 14 (1):1-30.

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References found in this work

On the Plurality of Worlds.David K. Lewis - 1986 - Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell.
Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized.James Ladyman & Don Ross - 2007 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Don Ross, David Spurrett & John G. Collier.
The metaphysics within physics.Tim Maudlin - 2007 - New York: Oxford University Press.
The unreality of time.John Ellis McTaggart - 1908 - Mind 17 (68):457-474.

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