Giovanelli, Marco (2019) Nothing but Coincidences: The Point-Coincidence Argument and Einstein’s Struggle with the Meaning of Coordinates in Physics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

In his 1916 review paper on general relativity, Einstein made the often-quoted oracular remark that all physical measurements amount to a determination of coincidences, like the coincidence of a pointer with a mark on a scale. This argument, which was meant to express the requirement of general covariance, immediately gained great resonance. Philosophers like Schlick found that it expressed the novelty of general relativity, but the mathematician Kretschmann deemed it as trivial and valid in all spacetime theories. With the relevant exception of the physicists of Leiden (Ehrenfest, Lorentz, de Sitter, and Nordström), who were in epistolary contact with Einstein, the motivations behind the point-coincidence remark were not fully understood. Only at the turn of the 1960s did Bergmann (Einstein’s former assistant in Princeton) start to use the term ‘coincidence’ in a way that was much closer to Einstein’s intentions. In the 1980s, Stachel, projecting Bergmann’s analysis onto his historical work on Einstein’s correspondence, was able to show that what he started to call ‘the point-coincidence argument’ was nothing but Einstein’s answer to the infamous ‘hole argument.’ The latter has enjoyed enormous popularity in the following decades, reshaping the philosophical debate on spacetime theories. The point-coincidence argument did not receive comparable attention. By reconstructing the history of the argument and its reception, this paper argues that this disparity of treatment is not justified. The paper will also show that the notion that only coincidences are observable in physics marks every critical step of Einstein’s struggle with the meaning of coordinates in physics.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Giovanelli, Marco marco.giovanelli@uni-tuebingen.de
Keywords:	General Relativity - Point-Coincidence Argument - Hole Argument. Observables. Operationalism
Subjects:	General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Theory/Observation
Depositing User:	Dr. Marco Giovanelli
Date Deposited:	18 Jan 2020 17:00
Last Modified:	18 Jan 2020 17:00
Item ID:	16830
Subjects:	General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies General Issues > Operationalism/Instrumentalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Theory/Observation
Date:	August 2019
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16830

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