Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium #3 - James Read (2020/10/30)
Channel: International Center for Formal Ontology
Date: 2020-11-02

Title: Shifts and reference

Chair: Antonio Vassallo

Abstract: Maudlin’s ‘metric essentialist’ response to the hole argument of general relativity is well-known, but differs strikingly from his response to what is often regarded as being the analogous problem in the context of Newtonian gravity (namely, the possibility of a Leibnizian static shift), which centres around a certain epistemological argument. In this talk, I explicate the reasons underlying this divergence of responses. I then apply recent work from the philosophy of language in order to assess Dasgupta’s arguments that Maudlin’s epistemological argument given in response to the static shift is unsuccessful, which are based upon the notion of ‘inexpressible ignorance’. I argue that Dasgupta’s reading of Maudlin is not quite correct; rather, Maudlin should be read as endorsing both (a) Hawthorne and Manley’s ‘liberalism about reference and singular thought’, and (b) Kaplan’s conception of indexicals. That said, Dasgupta’s point can still be made by rejecting either (a) or (b). Finally, I analyse how the epistemological argument plays out in the context of the gauge redundancy in electromagnetism, finding that the situation is interestingly different from the spacetime case. (Based upon joint work with Bryan Cheng.)
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The Colloquium's goal is to provide a window into the state-of-the-art in the foundations of spacetime physics. It brings together top-level philosophers and physicists willing to share their current research with an international audience. The Colloquium is organized by the Philosophy of Physics Group at the International Center for Formal Ontology, Faculty of Administration and Social Sciences, Warsaw University of Technology.