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SYRP: Intersectional Symposium The Concept of Reality in Physics

SYRP 2: The Concept of Reality in Physics II

SYRP 2.3: Invited Talk

Wednesday, March 16, 2011, 17:30–18:00, HSZ 01

The relativity of inertia and reality of nothing — •Alexander Afriat — Département de Philosophie, Université de Brest, France

We first see that the inertia of Newtonian mechanics is absolute and troublesome. General relativity can be viewed as Einstein's attempt to remedy, by making inertia relative, to matter -- perhaps imperfectly though, as at least a couple of freedom degrees separate inertia from matter in his theory. I consider ways the relationist (for whom it is of course unwelcome) can try to overcome such underdetermination, dismissing it as physically meaningless, especially by insisting on the right transformation properties.