Norton, John D. (2000) What Can We Learn about the Ontology of Space and Time from the Theory of Relativity? [Preprint]

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Abstract

In the exuberance that followed Einstein�s discoveries, philosophers at one time or another have proposed that his theories support virtually every conceivable moral in ontology. I present an opinionated assessment, designed to avoid this overabundance. We learn from Einstein�s theories of novel entanglements of categories once held distinct: space with time; space and time with matter; and space and time with causality. We do not learn that all is relative, that time in the fourth dimension in any non-trivial sense, that coordinate systems and even geometry are conventional or that spacetime should be reduced ontologically to causal, spatio-temporal or other relations.

Available Versions of this Item

• What Can We Learn about the Ontology of Space and Time from the Theory of Relativity? (deposited 10 Feb 2001)[Currently Displayed]
  • What can we Learn about the Ontology of Space and Time from the Theory of Relativity. (deposited 12 May 2012 09:12)

Commentary/Response Threads

• Norton, John D.What Can We Learn about the Ontology of Space and Time from the Theory of Relativity? (deposited 10 Feb 2001)[Currently Displayed]
  • Norton, John D.What Can We Learn About the Ontology of Space and Time from the Theory of Relativity? A Synopsis. (deposited 12 Apr 2001)

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