Clear all
Work #115

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Albert Einstein
1916 (German); first English 1920 · German
Popular scientific exposition · Modern physics / philosophical-scientific worldview

Space and time are observer-relative; gravity is curvature of spacetime — Newtonian absolute space dissolved

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Relativity: The Special and General Theory
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Relational
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Both
Space · Ontological Status Relational
Space · Curvature Curved
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Finite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Immediate
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Active
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Cosmic-ordering
Observer · Moral Authority Reason
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Finite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Non-conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Special relativity: time is observer-relative. General relativity: spacetime is dynamically curved. Relational ontological status — spacetime is real but bound up with matter-energy.

Space

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Curved by matter-energy according to GR. Cosmological models discuss both finite (closed) and infinite (open/flat) universes — extent is genuinely open empirically.

Matter

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Real, substantival, conserved (mass-energy conservation). E=mc² shows matter and energy as interconvertible.

Observer

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

The observer is real, embodied, finite — and the simultaneity of events depends on the observer's reference frame. No metaphysical agency in the working theory.

Energy

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Conserved. Mass-energy equivalence (E=mc²) is one of the foundational equations.

Information

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Real informational structure of spacetime curvature. Personal information not conserved across death in the working framework.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Relativity: The Special and General Theory

Einstein's lifelong resistance to quantum mechanics (the EPR paradox, the "God does not play dice" remark) means that Relativity captures only part of twentieth-century physics. The integration of GR with quantum mechanics remains open. Einstein himself expected a deeper unified theory; the search continues.