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| '''John Earman''' (born 1942) is a [[philosophy of physics|philosopher of physics]]. He is an emeritus professor in the [[History and Philosophy of Science]] department at the [[University of Pittsburgh]]. He has also taught at UCLA, the Rockefeller University, and the University of Minnesota,<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~hpsdept/people/fac_pages/earman.html</ref> and was president of the Philosophy of Science Association.<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~philosop/people/earman.html</ref> He received his PhD from Princeton in 1968.<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~philosop/people/earman.html</ref> Earman is on the Editorial Boards of ''Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics'' and ''Physics in Perspective.''<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~hpsdept/people/fac_pages/earman.html</ref>
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| ==The hole argument==
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| {{details|hole argument}}
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| Earman has notably contributed to debate about the "hole argument". The hole argument was invented for slightly different purposes by [[Albert Einstein]] late in 1913 as part of his quest for the [[general theory of relativity]] (GTR). It was revived and reformulated in the modern context by John3 (a short form for the "three Johns": John Earman, [[John Stachel]], and John Norton).
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| With the GTR, the traditional debate between [[Absolute truth|absolutism]] and [[relationalism]] has been shifted to whether or not [[spacetime]] is a substance, since the GTR largely rules out the existence of, e.g., absolute positions. The "hole argument" offered by John Earman is a powerful argument against [[manifold substantialism]].
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| This is a technical mathematical argument but can be paraphrased as follows:
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| Define a function <math>d</math> as the identity function over all elements over the [[manifold]] <math>M</math>, excepting a small neighbourhood ([[topology]]) <math>H</math> belonging to <math>M</math>. Over <math>H</math>, <math>d</math> comes to differ from identity by a smooth function.
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| With use of this function <math>d</math> we can construct two mathematical models, where the second is generated by applying <math>d</math> to proper elements of the first, such that the two models are identical prior to the time <math>t=0</math>, where <math>t</math> is a time function created by a [[foliation]] of spacetime, but differ after <math>t=0</math>.
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| These considerations show that, since substantialism allows the construction of holes, that the universe must, on that view, be indeterministic. Which, Earman argues, is a case against substantialism, as the case between [[determinism]] or [[indeterminism]] should be a question of physics, not of our commitment to substantialism.
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| ==Bibliography==
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| *''A Primer on Determinism''
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| *''World Enough and Spacetime: Absolute vs. Relational Theories of Space and Time''
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| *''Bayes or Bust: A Critical Examination of Bayesian Confirmation Theory''
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| *''Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers and Shrieks: Singularities and Acausalities in Relativistic Spacetimes''
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| *''Hume's Abject Failure: The Argument Against Miracles''
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| ===Works in progress===
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| *"Do the Laws of Physics Forbid the Operation of a Time Machine?" (with Christopher Smeenk).
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| *"The Emperor's New Theory: The Semantic/Models View of Theories."
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| *"Sharpening the Electromagnetic Arrow(s) of Time."
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| *"Pruning Some Branches from 'Branching Spacetimes'."
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| *"Models for an Evolving Block Universe."<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~hpsdept/people/fac_pages/earman.html</ref>
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| ==See also==
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| *[[American philosophy]]
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| *[[List of American philosophers]]
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| {{Authority control|VIAF=109251342}}
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| {{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
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| | NAME = Earman, John
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| | ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
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| | SHORT DESCRIPTION = American philosopher
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| | DATE OF BIRTH = 1942
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| | PLACE OF BIRTH =
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| | DATE OF DEATH =
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| | PLACE OF DEATH =
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| }}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Earman, John}}
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| [[Category:Living people]]
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| [[Category:1942 births]]
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| [[Category:American philosophers]]
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| [[Category:Philosophers of cosmology]]
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| [[Category:Philosophers of science]]
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| [[Category:University of Pittsburgh faculty]]
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