Another look at the equivalence of frames of reference in General Relativity
Dennis Dieks (Department of History and Foundations of Science, Utrecht University)
One of Einstein's aims in his General Theory of Relativity was to
generalize the relativity principle of his Special Theory. By means of his
principle of general covariance he intended to achieve the equivalence of
all frames of reference, not only inertial frames. The dominant view among
present-day philosophers of relativity is, however, that Einstein fell prey
to a misconception and that such an equivalence cannot be had. In the talk
we will review this discussion. We will then propose an analysis according
to which Einstein's desiderata may be achievable after all.