Relationalism rehabilitated? I: Classical Mechanics

The implications for the substantivalist-relationalist controversy of Barbour and Bertotti's successful implementation of a Machian approach to dynamics are investigated. It is argued that in the context of Newtonian mechanics, the Machian framework provides a genuinely relational interpretatio...

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Những tác giả chính: Pooley, O, Brown, H
Tác giả khác: British Society for the Philosophy of Science
Định dạng: Journal article
Ngôn ngữ:English
Được phát hành: Oxford University Press 2002
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Miêu tả
Tóm tắt:The implications for the substantivalist-relationalist controversy of Barbour and Bertotti's successful implementation of a Machian approach to dynamics are investigated. It is argued that in the context of Newtonian mechanics, the Machian framework provides a genuinely relational interpretation of dynamics and that it is more explanatory than the conventional, substantival interpretation. In a companion paper (Pooley [2002a]), the viability of the Machian framework as an interpretation of relativistic physics is explored.