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Single Idea 14016

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 1. Relativity / a. Special relativity ]

Full Idea

Special Relativity, with its definition of simultaneity, is shot through with verificationist assumptions.

Gist of Idea

The idea of simultaneity in Special Relativity is full of verificationist assumptions

Source

Craig Bourne (A Future for Presentism [2006], 6.IIc)

Book Ref

Bourne,Craig: 'A Future for Presentism' [OUP 2006], p.171


A Reaction

[He credits Sklar with this] I love hearing such points made, because all my instincts have rebelled against Einstein's story, even after I have been repeatedly told how stupid I am, and how I should study more maths etc.

Related Ideas

Idea 13993 Special Relativity denies the absolute present which Presentism needs [Markosian]

Idea 7621 Special relativity, unlike general relativity, was operationalist in spirit [Putnam on Einstein]


The 10 ideas with the same theme [interconnections of mass, velocity and energy]:

Motion is not absolute, but consists in relation [Leibniz]
All motion is relative, so a single body cannot move [Berkeley]
Assume the speed of light is constant for all observers, and the laws of physics are the same [Einstein, by Farmelo]
The theory is 'special' because it sticks to observers moving straight, at constant speeds [Einstein, by Farmelo]
Special relativity won't determine a preferred frame, but we can pick one externally [Smart]
The electric and magnetic are tightly linked, and viewed according to your own motion [Close]
All motions are relative and ambiguous, but acceleration is the same in all inertial frames [Close]
Space itself can expand (and separate its contents) at faster than light speeds [Krauss]
The idea of simultaneity in Special Relativity is full of verificationist assumptions [Bourne]
Relativity denies simultaneity, so it needs past, present and future (unlike Presentism) [Bourne]