Lehmkuhl, Dennis (2015) The Metaphysics of Super-Substantivalism. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Recent decades have seen a revived interest in super-substantivalism, the idea that spacetime is the only fundamental substance and matter some kind of aspect, property or consequence of spacetime structure. However, the metaphysical debate so far has misidentified a particular variant of super-substantivalism with the position per se. I distinguish between a super-substantival core commitment and different ways of fleshing it out. In particular, I distinguish between two categories of super-substantival positions: modest and radical super-substantivalism. I argue that only the latter engages with physics in an interesting way and offers metaphysics the possibility to motivate new research programmes in physics, rather than defending positions that can be maintained no matter what physics tells us about the nature of spacetime.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Lehmkuhl, Dennis lehmkuhl@caltech.edu
Keywords:	Super-Substantivalism, General Relativity, Spacetime
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Structure of Theories
Depositing User:	Dr Dennis Lehmkuhl
Date Deposited:	26 Jun 2015 15:32
Last Modified:	26 Jun 2015 15:32
Item ID:	11528
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Structure of Theories
Date:	25 June 2015
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/11528

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