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    Carmelics

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    Home/Original/inverse
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    Inverse View

    It is not the case that The metric structure of the world cannot be a rigid, fixed geometrical structure, but must itself be something real that both exerts effects on matter and is affected by matter.

    ?Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.

    Reasons For

    2 perspectives
    Reason for 1 of 2
    ?
    • 1.Abstract mathematical structures can be causally efficacious without being ontologically 'real' in the sense of being physical fields or substances.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The logical and geometric relations of spacetime can constrain physical possibility without themselves being affected by matter, as Hartry Field's nominalist program demonstrates.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 3.Weyl conflates the representational indispensability of metric structure with its ontological dynamism, a move Quine's criterion of ontological commitment does not license.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reason for 2 of 2
    ?
    • 1.General Relativity can be formulated in background-independent terms where the metric is fixed by boundary conditions, as in certain Machian relational interpretations advocated by Julian Barbour.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.If the metric's dynamism is merely a feature of one formulation rather than an invariant across all equivalent formulations, it cannot ground a robust ontological claim about what is 'real'.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    Reasons Against

    1 perspective
    Reason against
    ?
    • 1.Whatever exerts effects as powerful and real as the metric structure of the world exerts must itself be something real, not merely a fixed abstract structure.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

    • 2.The metric structure of the world exerts powerful and real effects.
      ?

      Think about whether this reason is strong or weak

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