Skip to content
Carmelics
Topics
Thinkers
Changes
Contributors
Loading account…
Statements
321,452
Perspectives
108,905
Topics
42
Home
/
Original
/
inverse
See Original
Inverse View
It is not the case that The symmetry possessed by a geometric object F is described exactly by the subgroup of spatial automorphisms that leave F invariant
?
Set your confidence on the premises below to see your aggregate.
Reasons For
2 perspectives
Reason for 1 of 2
?
1.
Symmetry is an intrinsic structural property of F, not a relation between F and the ambient space of automorphisms.
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
2.
Weyl's automorphism-group account makes symmetry extrinsically dependent on the choice of background space, which can vary without any change to F itself.
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
3.
Hermann Weyl's own later work on the hole argument suggests that identifying geometric objects with their embedding space conflates intrinsic and extrinsic structure.
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
Reason for 2 of 2
?
1.
A geometric object can possess continuous or approximate symmetries that no discrete subgroup of spatial automorphisms captures exactly (Nozick's objection to structural definitions).
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
2.
The subgroup description presupposes a determinate point-set identity for F, but objects individuated by their symmetries face a circularity: identity conditions presuppose the very group structure they are meant to explain.
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
Reasons Against
1 perspective
Reason against
?
1.
A geometric object F is a point set with a definite relational structure
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
2.
Those automorphisms of space that leave F invariant constitute a group
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
3.
That group captures precisely which transformations preserve all the relations constitutive of F
?
How convincing is this?
Think about whether this reason is strong or weak
Next step
Based on where you are in your exploration
Strongest counterpoint
Explore the most compelling reason on the other side.