Indiscernibles, General Covariance, and Other Symmetries
Saunders, Simon (2001) Indiscernibles, General Covariance, and Other Symmetries.
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Abstract
Leibniz's principle of identity of indiscernibles, formulated in modern logical terms, can be applied in a uniform way to all the exact physical symmetries, including the diffeomorphism group of general relativity. The framework that results is a form of relationalism, although it is not wedded to any reductionist program. Objections to near neighbours of these claims, by Stachel and Earman respectively, are considered and rejected.
| Keywords: | Leibniz, identity of indiscernibles, general covariance, relationalism, relationism, Earman, Stachel, hole argument. |
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| Subjects: | Specific Sciences: Physics: Classical Physics Specific Sciences: Physics: Cosmology Specific Sciences: Physics: Fields and Particles Specific Sciences: Physics |
| ID Code: | 459 |
| Deposited By: | Saunders, Simon W. |
| Deposited On: | 29 October 2001 |
| Alternative Locations: | http://users.ox.ac.uk/~lina0174/stachel7(S).pdf |