Abstract
In this paper I provide an ontology for the co-variant vectors, contra-variant vectors and tensors that are familiar from General Relativity. This ontology is developed in response to a problem that Timothy Maudlin uses to argue against universals in the interpretation of physics. The problem is that if vector quantities are universals then there should be a way of identifying the same vector quantity at two different places, but there is no absolute identification of vector quantities, merely a path-relative one. My solution to the problem is to use the mathematical characterization of vectors as differential operators on scalar fields. On the proposed hypothesis a scalar field is a conjunctive state of affairs, and vector and tensor fields are relations instantiated by scalar fields.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 441-451 |
| Journal | Dialectica |
| Volume | 63 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |
Keywords
- Metaphysics
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