Antonio Vassallo
Biographic Data
| ID | 461649 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Antonio Vassallo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Antonio |
| FAMILY NAME | Vassallo |
| SIGNATURE | VASSALLO A |
| AFFILIATIONS | Warsaw University of Technology |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1846-5362 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 9 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Metaphysical Hybridization
Philosophers typically classify causation, grounding, and other determination relations as distinct kinds. These relations are often modeled in set-theoretic terms, but this treatment ends up flattening the rich conceptual structure that makes determination metaphysically significant. As a result, accounts of mixed chains of determination often appear fragmented and unconvincing, especially in cases drawn from fundamental physics. This paper deve…
Pure Shape Dynamics, Self-Subsisting Structures, and the Nature of Time
The paper discusses the possible implications of the relational framework of Pure Shape Dynamics for the metaphysics of time. The starting point of the analysis is an interpretation of shapes in ontic structural realist terms, which gives rise to the notion of self-subsisting structure . The relational version of a Newtonian-particle toy model is introduced and discussed as a concrete example
Shape space as a conceptual space
The notion of shape space was introduced in the second half of the 20th Century as a useful analytical tool for tackling problems related to the intrinsic spatial configuration of material systems. In recent years, the geometrical properties of shape spaces have been investigated and exploited to construct a totally relational description of physics (classical, relativistic, and quantum). The main aim of this relational framework—originally champ…
The Metaphysics of Decoherence
The paper investigates the type of realism that best suits the framework of decoherence taken at face value without postulating a plurality of worlds, or additional hidden variables, or non-unitary dynamical mechanisms. It is argued that this reading of decoherence leads to a type of perspectival realism which is extremely radical, especially when cosmological decoherence is considered
A proposal for a metaphysics of self-subsisting structures. I. Classical physics
We present a new metaphysical framework for physics that is conceptually clear, ontologically parsimonious, and empirically adequate. This framework relies on the notion of self-subsisting structure , that is, a set of fundamental physical elements whose individuation and behavior are described in purely relational terms, without any need for a background spacetime. Although the specification of the fundamental elements of the ontology depends on…
The Foundations of Spacetime Physics
The questions of what represents space-time in GR, the status of gravitational energy, the substantivalist-relationalist issue, and the (non)exceptional status of gravity are interrelated. If space-time has energy-momentum, then space-time is substantival. Two extant ways to avoid the substantivalist conclusion deny that the energy-bearing metric is part of space-time or deny that gravitational energy exists. Feynman linked doubts about gravitati…
Does general relativity highlight necessary connections in nature
The dynamics of general relativity is encoded in a set of ten differential equations, the so-called Einstein field equations . It is usually believed that Einstein’s equations represent a physical law describing the coupling of spacetime with material fields. However, just six of these equations actually describe the coupling mechanism: the remaining four represent a set of differential relations known as Bianchi identities . The paper discusses …
Leibnizian relationalism for general relativistic physics
Can Bohmian mechanics be made background independent
A proposal for a metaphysics of self-subsisting structures. I. Classical physics
We present a new metaphysical framework for physics that is conceptually clear, ontologically parsimonious, and empirically adequate. This framework relies on the notion of self-subsisting structure , that is, a set of fundamental physical elements whose individuation and behavior are described in purely relational terms, without any need for a background spacetime. Although the specification of the fundamental elements of the ontology depends on…
Can Bohmian mechanics be made background independent
Leibnizian relationalism for general relativistic physics
Does general relativity highlight necessary connections in nature
The dynamics of general relativity is encoded in a set of ten differential equations, the so-called Einstein field equations . It is usually believed that Einstein’s equations represent a physical law describing the coupling of spacetime with material fields. However, just six of these equations actually describe the coupling mechanism: the remaining four represent a set of differential relations known as Bianchi identities . The paper discusses …
A proposal for a metaphysics of self-subsisting structures. I. Classical physics
We present a new metaphysical framework for physics that is conceptually clear, ontologically parsimonious, and empirically adequate. This framework relies on the notion of self-subsisting structure , that is, a set of fundamental physical elements whose individuation and behavior are described in purely relational terms, without any need for a background spacetime. Although the specification of the fundamental elements of the ontology depends on…
The Foundations of Spacetime Physics
The questions of what represents space-time in GR, the status of gravitational energy, the substantivalist-relationalist issue, and the (non)exceptional status of gravity are interrelated. If space-time has energy-momentum, then space-time is substantival. Two extant ways to avoid the substantivalist conclusion deny that the energy-bearing metric is part of space-time or deny that gravitational energy exists. Feynman linked doubts about gravitati…
The Metaphysics of Decoherence
The paper investigates the type of realism that best suits the framework of decoherence taken at face value without postulating a plurality of worlds, or additional hidden variables, or non-unitary dynamical mechanisms. It is argued that this reading of decoherence leads to a type of perspectival realism which is extremely radical, especially when cosmological decoherence is considered
Pure Shape Dynamics, Self-Subsisting Structures, and the Nature of Time
The paper discusses the possible implications of the relational framework of Pure Shape Dynamics for the metaphysics of time. The starting point of the analysis is an interpretation of shapes in ontic structural realist terms, which gives rise to the notion of self-subsisting structure . The relational version of a Newtonian-particle toy model is introduced and discussed as a concrete example
Shape space as a conceptual space
The notion of shape space was introduced in the second half of the 20th Century as a useful analytical tool for tackling problems related to the intrinsic spatial configuration of material systems. In recent years, the geometrical properties of shape spaces have been investigated and exploited to construct a totally relational description of physics (classical, relativistic, and quantum). The main aim of this relational framework—originally champ…
Metaphysical Hybridization
Philosophers typically classify causation, grounding, and other determination relations as distinct kinds. These relations are often modeled in set-theoretic terms, but this treatment ends up flattening the rich conceptual structure that makes determination metaphysically significant. As a result, accounts of mixed chains of determination often appear fragmented and unconvincing, especially in cases drawn from fundamental physics. This paper deve…
Metaphysics (6 works) · Physics (6 works) · Epistemology (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Quantum Mechanics and Applications (5 works) · Theoretical physics (5 works) · Ontology (4 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (4 works) · Quantum mechanics (4 works) · Classical mechanics (3 works)