“重新审视同时的约定性”——牛津大学物理哲学讨论会
2009-03-12
2009年3月12日，牛津物理哲学小组召开讨论会，本次讨论的题目是“重新审视同时的约定性”，（The conventionality of simultaneity reconsidered）主讲人是来自荷兰乌得勒支科学史和科学基础研究所的Dennis Dieks教授。
Dennis Dieks教授演讲的内容摘要如下：
There is a standard philosophy of physics story about relativistic simultaneity that runs more or less as follows. In 1905 Einstein already pointed out that simultaneity in SRT must be considered conventional, and this point was systematically worked out by Reichenbach in his famous ε-analysis (later adapted by Grünbaum). It testifies to the lack of philosophical sophistication of quite some working physicists that a number of them have nevertheless proposed methods for measuring the one-way velocity of light---attempts that evidently are doomed to fail. Admittedly, the story continues, there does exist a threat to the conventionality thesis, namely Malament’s proof that only ε = ½ leads to a simultaneity relation satisfying a number of natural requirements; but then, it can very well be argued that these requirements are themselves conventional.
The real history is more complicated and more interesting than this. In the talk I shall review some of its highlights and I shall attempt a reconsideration of the conventionality thesis.