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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Empiricism and Relationism Intertwined: Hume and Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity

Matias Slavov

subject

060106 history of social sciencesTheory of FormsSpace and timeSpecial relativity0603 philosophy ethics and religionsymbols.namesakeTheory of relativityHistory and Philosophy of ScienceStatic interpretation of timeHistory of special relativity0601 history and archaeologyEinsteinta611SpacetimePhilosophy06 humanities and the artsEpistemologyDavidPhilosophyPhilosophical analysis060302 philosophysymbolsEinstein AlbertEinsteinHumeAlbertEmpiricismHume David

description

Einstein acknowledged that his reading of Hume influenced the development of his special theory of relativity. In this article, I juxtapose Hume’s philosophy with Einstein’s philosophical analysis related to his special relativity. I argue that there are two common points to be found in their writings, namely an empiricist theory of ideas and concepts, and a relationist ontology regarding space and time. The main thesis of this article is that these two points are intertwined in Hume and Einstein.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2016-05-24THEORIA. An International Journal for Theory, History and Foundations of Science
https://doi.org/10.1387/theoria.14846