Conventionalism in Early Analytic Philosophy and the Principle of Relativity

Erkenntnis 87 (2):827-852 (2020)
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Abstract

In this paper I argue that the positivist–conventionalist interpretation of the Restricted Principle of Relativity is flawed, due to the positivists’ own understanding of conventions and their origins. I claim in the paper that, to understand the conventionalist thesis, one has to diambiguate between three types of convention; the linguistic conventions stemming from the fundamental role of mathematical axioms, the conventions stemming from the coordination betweeh theoretical statements and physical, observable facts or entities, and conventions that are made possible by possible revisions to theory. I claim that it is not possible to interpret the Principle of Relativity as based on one of these three types of convention. This renders the conventionalist interpretation of the Principle of Relativity untenable. The paper is part of a larger project that aims to understand the philosophical significance of the Principle of Relativity.

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original Belkind, Ori (2020) "Conventionalism in Early Analytic Philosophy and the Principle of Relativity". Erkenntnis 87(2):827-852

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Ori Belkind
Tel Aviv University

Citations of this work

Coordination, Convention and the Constitution of Physical Objects.Adán Sus - forthcoming - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie:1-31.

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References found in this work

The logical syntax of language.Rudolf Carnap - 1937 - London,: K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & co.. Edited by Amethe Smeaton.
Testability and Meaning.Rudolf Carnap - 2011 - Literary Licensing, LLC.
Philosophy of Physics: Space and Time.Tim Maudlin - 2012 - Princeton University Press.
Reconsidering Logical Positivism.Michael Friedman - 1999 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

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