How to be a realist about Minkowski spacetime without believing in magical explanations.

  1. Sus, Adan 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Valladolid
    info

    Universidad de Valladolid

    Valladolid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01fvbaw18

Revista:
Theoria: an international journal for theory, history and foundations of science

ISSN: 0495-4548

Any de publicació: 2020

Volum: 35

Número: 2

Pàgines: 175-195

Tipus: Article

DOI: 10.1387/THEORIA.21065 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

Altres publicacions en: Theoria: an international journal for theory, history and foundations of science

Resum

The question about the relation between spacetime structure and the symmetries of laws has received renewed attention in a recent discussion about the status of Minkowski spacetime in Special Relativity. In that context we find two extreme positions (either spacetime explains symmetries of laws or vice-versa) and a general assumption about the debate being mainly about explanation. The aim of this paper is twofold: first, to argue that the ontological dimension of the debate cannot be ignored; second, to claim that taking ontology into account involves considering a third perspective on the relation between spacetime and symmetries of laws; one in which both terms would be somehow derived from common assumptions on the formulation of a given physical theory.

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Informació de finançament

I would like to thank some anonymous reviewers for their comments. Research for this article has been supported by the following projects: “Laws, explanation and realism in physical and biomedical sciences” (FFI2016-76799-P) and “Limits of quantum physics - formalism, interpretation, visualization and aesthetics” (FFI2016-77266-P), Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Spain).

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