PhilSci Archive

Respecting Boundaries: Theoretical Equivalence and Structure Beyond Dynamics

Wolf, William J. and Read, James (2023) Respecting Boundaries: Theoretical Equivalence and Structure Beyond Dynamics. [Preprint]

This is the latest version of this item.

[img]
Preview
Text
BoundariesPaperAccepted.pdf - Accepted Version

Download (329kB) | Preview

Abstract

A standard line in the contemporary philosophical literature has it that physical theories are equivalent only when they agree on their empirical content, where this empirical content is often understood as being encoded in the equations of motion of those theories. In this article, we question whether it is indeed the case that the empirical content of a theory is exhausted by its equations of motion, showing that (for example) considerations of boundary conditions play a key role in the empirical equivalence (or otherwise) of theories. Having argued for this, we show that philosophical claims made by Knox (2011) that general relativity is equivalent to teleparallel gravity, and by Weatherall (2016) that electromagnetism in the Faraday tensor formalism is equivalent to electromagnetism in the vector potential formalism, can both be called into question. We then show that properly considering the role of boundary conditions in theory structure can potentially restore these claims of equivalence and close with some remarks on the pragmatics of adjudications on theory identity.


Export/Citation: EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL
Social Networking:
Share |

Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Wolf, William J.williamjwolf2@gmail.com
Read, Jamesjames.read@philosophy.ox.ac.uk
Additional Information: Forthcoming in the European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Keywords: Theoretical Equivalence, Dynamics, Semantics, Theory Structure, Teleparallel Gravity, General Relativity, Electromagnetism
Subjects: General Issues > Models and Idealization
General Issues > Philosophers of Science
Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
General Issues > Structure of Theories
Depositing User: Mr. William Wolf
Date Deposited: 26 Jul 2023 14:44
Last Modified: 26 Jul 2023 14:44
Item ID: 22341
Subjects: General Issues > Models and Idealization
General Issues > Philosophers of Science
Specific Sciences > Physics
Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory
General Issues > Structure of Theories
Date: 25 July 2023
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22341

Available Versions of this Item

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item