BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Against Pointillisme about Geometry and about Mechanics - Jeremy B
 utterfield\, Trinity College
DTSTART:20061113T163000Z
DTEND:20061113T180000Z
UID:TALK5897@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Jeremy Nicholas Butterfield
DESCRIPTION:This talk corresponds to two papers which form part of a wider
  campaign: to deny {\\em pointillisme}. That is the doctrine that a physic
 al theory's fundamental quantities are defined at points of space or of sp
 acetime\, and represent intrinsic properties of such points or point-sized
  objects located there\; so that properties of spatial or spatiotemporal r
 egions and their material contents are determined by the point-by-point fa
 cts.\n\nMore specifically\, one paper argues against {\\em pointillisme} a
 bout the structure of space and-or spacetime itself\, especially a paper b
 y Bricker (1993). The other paper argues against {\\em pointillisme} about
  the concept of velocity in classical mechanics\; especially against propo
 sals by Tooley\, Robinson and Lewis.\n\nTo avoid technicalities\, I conduc
 t the argument almost entirely in the context of  ``Newtonian'' ideas abou
 t space and time\, and the classical mechanics of point-particles\, i.e. e
 xtensionless particles moving in a void.. But both the debate and my argum
 ents carry over to relativistic\, and even quantum\, physics.\n\nThe paper
 s are available on the Pittsburgh e-arXive for philosophy of science\; at:
  http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00002552/\nAnd at \nhttp://philsc
 i-archive.pitt.edu/archive/00002553/\n
LOCATION:Meeting Room 14\, Centre for Mathematical Sciences
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR