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Michael Friedman's Foundations of Space-Time Theories

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Robert Weingard  and
Gerrit Smith
Robert Weingard
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Gerrit Smith
Affiliation:
Department of Philosophy, Fordham University
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Abstract

Foundations of Space-Time Theories, by Michael Friedman, falls naturally into two parts. In the first, he presents the general framework within which he will characterize and discuss space-time theories, and then he devotes a chapter each to Newtonian physics, special relativity, and general relativity. Although there is some rich philosophical discussion along the way, these chapters are, of necessity, somewhat technical expositions of the general framework in action. It is in the second part, consisting of two substantial chapters, one on relationalism, the other on conventionalism, that more general philosophical issues are addressed.

Type
Critical Notice
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , June 1986 , pp. 286 - 299
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association 1986

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Footnotes

†

We wish to thank the anonymous referee mentioned in notes one and four for some very helpful criticisms.

References

Flugge, S. (ed.) (1962), Encyclopedia of Physics. Vol 4. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedman, Michael (1983), Foundations of Space-Time Theories: Relativistic Physics and Philosophy of Science. Princeton: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Hehl, F. W.; Heyde, P. vonder; and Kerlick, G. D. (1976), “General Relativity with Spin and Torsion”, Reviews of Modern Physics 48: 393–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar