| Abstract: | The aim of this paper is to contribute to a more balanced judgement than the widespread impression that the changes which
are called for in today's philosophy of physics and which centre around the concept of holism amount to a rupture with the
framework of Cartesian philosophy of physics. I argue that this framework includes a sort of holism: As a result of the identification
of matter with space, any physical property can be instantiated only if there is the whole of matter. Relating this holism
to general relativity, I maintain that this holism cannot be directly applied to today's philosophy of physics consequent
upon the failure of geometrodynamics. I show in what respect precisely the holism in quantum physics amounts to a revision
of the holism within Cartesianism.
This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
