Esfeld, Michael and Lam, Vincent (2006) Moderate structural realism about space-time. [Preprint]

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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.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Esfeld, Michael Lam, Vincent
Keywords:	structural realism, structure, relations, intrinsic properties, hole argument, space-time points
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics
Depositing User:	Michael Esfeld
Date Deposited:	09 Jun 2006
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:14
Item ID:	2778
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics
Date:	June 2006
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/2778

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