Chen E. Laws of Physics 2024
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Chen E. Laws of Physics 2024
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Despite its apparent complexity, our world seems to be governed by simple laws of physics. This volume provides a philosophical introduction to such laws. I explain how they are connected to some of the central issues in philosophy, such as ontology, possibility, explanation, induction, counterfactuals, time, determinism, and fundamentality. I suggest that laws are fundamental facts that govern the world by constraining its physical possibilities. I examine three hallmarks of laws-simplicity, exactness, and objectivity-and discuss whether and how they may be associated with laws of physics.
Introduction
Conceptual Connections
Ontology, Nomology, and Possibility
Counterfactuals and Causation
Dynamic Production and the Direction of Time
Determinism and Chance
Prediction and Explanation
Problems of Induction
Fundamentality
Summary
Minimal Primitivism
Minimal Primitivism (MinP)
Explanation by Simple Constraint
Examples and Further Clarifications
Dynamical Laws
Non-dynamical Constraint Laws
Probabilistic Laws
Summary
Other Accounts
Humean Reductionism
Platonic Reductionism
Aristotelian Reductionism
Langean Reductionism
Maudlinian Primitivism
Summary
Simplicity
Nomic Realism and the Epistemic Gap
Nomic Simplicity
Theoretical Benefits
Summary
Exactness
Nomic Exactness
Nomic Vagueness
A Case Study
Summary
Objectivity
Ratbag Idealism
A Package Deal
Humeanism and Non-Humeanism
Summary
Conclusion
References
Acknowledgments