Boltzmann’s Time Bomb

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 53 (1):83-119 (2002)
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Abstract

Since the late nineteenth century, physics has been puzzled by the time-asymmetry of thermodynamic phenomena in the light of the apparent T-symmetry of the underlying laws of mechanics. However, a compelling solution to this puzzle has proved elusive. In part, I argue, this can be attributed to a failure to distinguish two conceptions of the problem. According to one, the main focus of our attention is a time-asymmetric lawlike generalisation. According to the other, it is a particular fact about the early universe. This paper aims (i) to distinguish these two different conceptions of the time-asymmetric explanandum in thermodynamics; (ii) to argue in favour of the latter; and (iii) to show that whichever we choose, our rational expectations about the thermodynamic behaviour of the future must depend on what we know about the past: contrary to the common view, statistical arguments alone do not give us good reason to expect that entropy will always continue to increase.

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Huw Price
University of Bonn

Citations of this work

The “Past Hypothesis”: Not even false.John Earman - 2006 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (3):399-430.
Calling for explanation: the case of the thermodynamic past state.Dan Baras & Orly Shenker - 2020 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 10 (3):1-20.
Conventionalism about time direction.Matt Farr - 2022 - Synthese 200 (1):1-21.
Calling for Explanation.Dan Baras - 2022 - New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

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