Manchak, JB and Barrett, Thomas William (2024) Heraclitus-Maximal Worlds. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Within the context of general relativity, Leibnizian metaphysics seems to demand that worlds are "maximal" with respect to a variety of spacetime properties (Geroch 1970; Earman 1995). Here, we explore maximal worlds with respect to the "Heraclitus" asymmetry property which demands that of no pair of spacetime events have the same structure (Manchak and Barrett 2023). First, we show that Heraclitus-maximal worlds exist and that every Heraclitus world is contained in some Heraclitus-maximal world. This amounts to a type of compatibility between the Leibnizian and Heraclitian demands. Next, we consider the notion of "observationally indistinguishable" worlds (Glymour 1972, 1977; Malament 1977). We know that, modulo modest assumptions, any world is observationally indistinguishable from some other (non-isomorphic) world (Manchak 2009). But here we show a way out of this general epistemic predicament: if attention is restricted to Heraclitus-maximal worlds, then worlds are observationally indistinguishable if and only if they are isomorphic. Finally, we show a sense in which cosmic underdetermination can still arise for individual observers even if the Leibnizian and Heraclitian demands are met.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | |||||||||
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| Keywords: | Heraclitus; Leibniz; Spacetime; Maximality; Zorn's Lemma; Underdetermination | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | John Byron Manchak | |||||||||
| Date Deposited: | 16 Apr 2024 23:43 | |||||||||
| Last Modified: | 16 Apr 2024 23:43 | |||||||||
| Item ID: | 23280 | |||||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 12 April 2024 | |||||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23280 |
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