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On Various Senses of “Conventional” and Their Interrelation in the Philosophy of Physics: Simultaneity as a Case Study

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The Present Situation in the Philosophy of Science

Part of the book series: The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective ((PSEP,volume 1))

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Abstract

My aim in this note1 is to disambiguate various senses of ‘conventional’ that in the philosophy of physics have been frequently conflated. As a case study, I will refer to the well-known issue of the conventionality of simultaneity in the special theory of relativity, since it is particularly in this context that the above mentioned confusion is present.

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Correspondence to Mauro Dorato .

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Dorato, M. (2010). On Various Senses of “Conventional” and Their Interrelation in the Philosophy of Physics: Simultaneity as a Case Study. In: Stadler, F. (eds) The Present Situation in the Philosophy of Science. The Philosophy of Science in a European Perspective, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9115-4_24

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