Friedman’s thesis. (English) Zbl 1329.70010
Summary: This essay examines Friedman’s recent approach to the analysis of physical theories. Friedman argues against Quine that the identification of certain principles as ‘constitutive’ is essential to a satisfactory methodological analysis of physics. I explicate Friedman’s characterization of a constitutive principle, and I evaluate his account of the constitutive principles that Newtonian and Einsteinian gravitation presuppose for their formulation. I argue that something close to Friedman’s thesis is defensible.
MSC:
| 70A05 | Axiomatics, foundations |
| 83A05 | Special relativity |
| 83C05 | Einstein’s equations (general structure, canonical formalism, Cauchy problems) |
| 83C10 | Equations of motion in general relativity and gravitational theory |
| 00A79 | Physics |
Keywords:
structure of space-time theories; Newtonian gravitation; general relativity; equivalence principle; geodesic principleReferences:
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