European Journal for Philosophy of Science 2 (3):275-297 (2012)
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Abstract |
If the force on a particle fails to satisfy a Lipschitz condition at a point, it relaxes one of the conditions necessary for a locally unique solution to the particle’s equation of motion. I examine the most discussed example of this failure of determinism in classical mechanics—that of Norton’s dome—and the range of current objections against it. Finding there are many different conceptions of classical mechanics appropriate and useful for different purposes, I argue that no single conception is preferred. Instead of arguing for or against determinism, I stress the wide variety of pragmatic considerations that, in a specific context, may lead one usefully and legitimately to adopt one conception over another in which determinism may or may not hold
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Keywords | Determinism Classical mechanics Newtonian mechanics Pluralism Pragmatism |
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Reprint years | 2011, 2012 |
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DOI | 10.1007/s13194-011-0040-8 |
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References found in this work BETA
Wandering Significance: An Essay on Conceptual Behavior.Mark Wilson - 2006 - Oxford: Clarendon Press.
The Dome: An Unexpectedly Simple Failure of Determinism.John D. Norton - 2008 - Philosophy of Science 75 (5):786-798.
Causation as Folk Science.John D. Norton - 2003 - In Huw Price & Richard Corry (eds.), Philosophers' Imprint. Oxford University Press.
View all 26 references / Add more references
Citations of this work BETA
Similarity, Topology, and Physical Significance in Relativity Theory.Samuel C. Fletcher - 2016 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 67 (2):365-389.
Conceptual Fragmentation and the Rise of Eliminativism.Henry Taylor & Peter Vickers - 2017 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 7 (1):17-40.
The Norton Dome and the Nineteenth Century Foundations of Determinism.Marij van Strien - 2014 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 45 (1):167-185.
Who Let the Demon Out? Laplace and Boscovich on Determinism.Boris Kožnjak - 2015 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 51:42-52.
Some Surprising Instabilities in Idealized Dynamical Systems.Jon Pérez Laraudogoitia - 2020 - Synthese 197 (7):3007-3026.
View all 9 citations / Add more citations
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