Vassallo, Antonio and Hoefer, Carl (2019) The Metaphysics of Machian Frame-Dragging. [Preprint]
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Abstract
The paper investigates the kind of dependence relation that best portrays Machian frame-dragging in general relativity. The question is tricky because frame-dragging relates local inertial frames to distant distributions of matter in a time-independent way, thus establishing some sort of non-local link between the two. For this reason, a plain causal interpretation of frame-dragging faces huge challenges. The paper will shed light on the issue by using a generalized structural equation model analysis in terms of manipulationist counterfactuals recently applied in the context of metaphysical enquiry by Schaffer (2016) and Wilson (2017). The verdict of the analysis will be that frame-dragging is best understood in terms of a novel type of dependence relation that is half-way between causation and grounding.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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| Additional Information: | 24 pages. Accepted for publication in C. Beisbart, T. Sauer, and C. Wüthrich (eds.): "Thinking about Space and Time" (Einstein Studies Series). Springer, 2019. | |||||||||
| Keywords: | General relativity; frame-dragging; causation; grounding; structural equation modelling; Mach's principle. | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Causation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory |
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| Depositing User: | Antonio Vassallo | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 30 Jan 2019 13:59 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 30 Jan 2019 13:59 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 15693 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Causation General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory |
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| Date: | 2019 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/15693 |
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