Mario Bunge on gravitational waves and the reality of spacetime

Abstract

I discuss the recent claims made by Mario Bunge on the philosophical implications of the discovery of gravitational waves. I think that Bunge is right when he points out that the detection implies the materiality of spacetime, but I reject his identification of spacetime with the gravitational field. I show that Bunge?s analysis of the spacetime inside a hollow sphere is defective, but this in no way affects his main claim.