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arXiv · 1608.07257

Leibnizian relationalism for general relativistic physics

Antonio Vassallo·Michael Esfeld
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Abstract

An ontology of Leibnizian relationalism, consisting in distance relations among sparse matter points and their change only, is well recognized as a serious option in the context of classical mechanics. In this paper, we investigate how this ontology fares when it comes to general relativistic physics. Using a Humean strategy, we regard the gravitational field as a means to represent the overall change in the distance relations among point particles in a way that achieves the best combination of being simple and being informative.

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Antonio Vassallo, Michael Esfeld. 2016-08-25. Leibnizian relationalism for general relativistic physics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsb.2016.08.006

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