Mandersian Relationism

Space, Modality, and Equivalence

Bibliographic Data

ID10706092
AuthorsJoshua Babic (0000-0002-6629-6364, University of Geneva, corresponding author), Lorenzo Cocco (0009-0004-7843-5925, University of Geneva)
Year2024
Volume91
Issue1
Pages175-185
Publication date2024-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/psa.2023.64
OpenAlexW4364376324
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited13

Modal relationism is the view that our best physical theories can dispense with substantival space or spacetime in favor of possible configurations of particles. Kenneth Manders argues that the substantivalist conception is equivalent to this Leibnizian conception of space. To do so, Manders provides a translation $f$ from the Newtonian theory ${T_N}$ into the Leibnizian modal relationist account ${T_L}$ . In this article, we show that the translation does not establish equivalence because there is no translation $g:{T_L} \mapsto {T_N}$ that preserves theoremhood. This seems to show that the modal relationist theory ${T_L}$ is less parsimonious than its substantivalist rival

Calculus (dental) · Classical mechanics · Equivalence (formal languages) · Gravitation · Linguistics · Modal · Modality (human–computer interaction) · Physics · Pure mathematics · Quantum mechanics · Space (punctuation) · Spacetime · Translation (biology) · Weak equivalence · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · History and Theory of Mathematics · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Quantum Mechanics and Applications

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