Leibnizian relationalism for general relativistic physics
arXiv:1608.07257 · doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2016.08.006
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.
19 pages, accepted for publication in Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics