2026-07-072026-07-07http://salesiana.dossiersoluciones.com/handle/123456789/86011Einstein distinguished between ``principle'' and ``constructive'' theories in physics, and although he thought the latter were more explanatory than the former, he regarded his 1905 formulation of special relativity theory as a principle theory. Some have claimed that Minkowski space-time can serve as the deep structure within a constructive reformulation of special relativity. We criticise this claim, and argue that a satisfactory constructive version of special relativity must involve a dynamical treatment of the forces holding together the constitutive parts of moving rods and clocks.18 pages, written for Petkov (ed.), The Ontology of Spacetime (in preparation)History and Philosophy of Physicstext