Mulder, Ruward A. (2025) Conventionalism in general relativity: Weatherall & Manchak’s proof against theorem θ in context. [Preprint]

Text _[Mulder]_Conventionalism_and_relativity_v3.pdf Download (994kB)

Abstract

Weatherall and Manchak (2014) show that Reichenbachean universal effects, constrained to a rank-2 tensor field representation in the geodesic equation, always exist in non-relativistic gravity but not so for relativistic spacetimes. Thus general relativity is less susceptible to underdetermination than its Newtonian predecessor. Dürr and Ben-Menahem (2022) argue these assumptions are exploitable as loopholes, effectively establishing a (rich) no-go theorem. I disambiguate between two targets of the proof, which have previously been conflated: the existence claim of at least one alternative geometry to a given one and Reichenbach's (in)famous "theorem theta", which amounts to a universality claim that any geometry can function as an alternative to any other. I show there is no (rich) no-go theorem to save theorem theta. I illustrate this by explicitly breaking one of the assumptions and generalising the proof to torsionful spacetimes. Finally, I suggest a programmatic attitude: rather than undermining the proof one can use it to systematically and rigorously articulate stronger propositions to be proved, thereby systematically exploring the space of alternative spacetime theories.

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Mulder, Ruward A. ramulder@uci.edu 0000-0002-9684-6267
Keywords:	Conventionalism, relativity, theorem theta, space of spacetimes, no-go theorems
Subjects:	General Issues > Conventionalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change
Depositing User:	Mr. Ruward A. Mulder
Date Deposited:	18 Jul 2025 13:32
Last Modified:	18 Jul 2025 13:32
Item ID:	25971
Subjects:	General Issues > Conventionalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change
Date:	2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/25971

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item