Baker, David John (2014) Some Consequences of Physics for the Comparative Metaphysics of Quantity. [Preprint]
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Abstract
According to comparativist theories of quantities, their intrinsic values are not fundamental. Instead, all the quantity facts are grounded in scale-independent relations like "twice as massive as" or "more massive than." I show that this sort of scale independence is best understood as a sort of metaphysical symmetry--a principle about which transformations of the non-fundamental ontology leave the fundamental ontology unchanged. Determinism--a core scientific concept easily formulated in absolutist terms--is more difficult for the comparativist to define. After settling on the most plausible comparativist understanding of determinism, I offer some examples of physical systems that the comparativist must count as indeterministic although the relevant physical theory gives deterministic predictions. Several morals are drawn. In particular: comparativism is metaphysically contingent if true, and it is most natural for a comparativist to accept an at-at theory of motion.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | David Baker | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 07 Dec 2016 14:51 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 07 Dec 2016 14:51 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 12674 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 2014 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12674 |
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