Weatherall, James Owen (2012) Inertial motion, explanation, and the foundations of classical spacetime theories. [Preprint]
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Abstract
I begin by reviewing some recent work on the status of the geodesic principle in general relativity and the geometrized formulation of Newtonian gravitation. I then turn to the question of whether either of these theories might be said to ``explain'' inertial motion. I argue that there is a sense in which both theories may be understood to explain inertial motion, but that the sense of ``explain'' is rather different from what one might have expected. This sense of explanation is connected with a view of theories---I call it the ``puzzleball view''---on which the foundations of a physical theory are best understood as a network of mutually interdependent principles and assumptions.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Invited for inclusion in "Towards a Theory of Spacetime Theories," D. Lehmkuhl ed. | ||||||
| Keywords: | Inertial motion, geodesic principle, general relativity, Newton-Cartan theory, geometrized Newtonian gravitation, explanation, puzzle-ball view | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories |
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| Depositing User: | James Owen Weatherall | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 15 Jun 2012 14:25 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 15 Jun 2012 14:25 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 9167 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories |
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| Date: | 13 June 2012 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9167 |
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