Veldman, Michael (2023) Mathematizing Metaphysics: The Case of the Principle of Least Action. [Preprint]
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Abstract
Standard narratives about physical teleology say its death was a fait accompli of the Scientific Revolution, but the principle of least action (PLA) has been taken to instantiate teleology’s survival into Enlightenment physics. Other scholars claim this PLA-based teleological metaphysics fell to general philosophical attacks on final causes. None of these narratives fully captures the philosophical interest of its demise. It illustrates a metaphysics being refuted because it could not be coherently modeled in mathematics, hence directly through mathematization and not by philosophical argument or empirical test.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Keywords: | least action, teleology, mathematization | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Mathematics |
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| Depositing User: | Michael Veldman | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 16 Oct 2023 17:01 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 16 Oct 2023 17:01 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 22663 | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | https://doi.org/10.1017/psa.2023.120 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Mathematics |
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| Date: | 2023 | ||||||
| URI: | http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/22663 |
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