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Relativity: An Epistemological Appraisal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2022

Henry Margenau  and
Richard A. Mould
Henry Margenau
Affiliation:
Yale University
Richard A. Mould
Affiliation:
Yale University
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Abstract

This paper is the forerunner of an extensive logical analysis of the relativity idea, in which an axiomatic structure based upon the principles of topology is developed. It is meant to expose the manner in which relativity stretches from the pole of pure conception to that of factual observation, from the a priori to the a posteriori. We take pains to show, in connection with special relativity, precisely which elements are postulational and which are verifiable empirically. Our attempt can be somewhat naively characterized as an effort to show how misguided it is to “derive” relativity from such experimental facts as the Michelson-Morley experiment—as so many textbooks profess to do.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , October 1957 , pp. 297 - 307
Copyright
Copyright © 1957, The Williams & Wilkins Company

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Footnotes

†

Part of a project sponsored by a grant from the National Science Foundation.

References

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