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From Arbuthnot to Boltzmann: The Past-hypothesis, Special Sciences and the Best System

Frisch, Mathias (2010) From Arbuthnot to Boltzmann: The Past-hypothesis, Special Sciences and the Best System. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

In recent work on the foundations of statistical mechanics and the arrow of time, Barry Loewer and David Albert have developed a view that defends both a Best System account of laws and a physicalist fundamentalism. In this paper I argue that there exists a tension between their account of laws, which emphasizes the pragmatic element in assessing the relative strength of different deductive systems, and their reductivism or fundamentalism. If we take the pragmatic dimension in their account seriously, then the laws of the special sciences should be part of the best system as well.


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Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Frisch, Mathias
Keywords: Lewis, laws, statistical physics, reductionism
Subjects: General Issues > Laws of Nature
General Issues > Reductionism/Holism
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Depositing User: Mathias Frisch
Date Deposited: 24 Mar 2010
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:19
Item ID: 5204
Subjects: General Issues > Laws of Nature
General Issues > Reductionism/Holism
Specific Sciences > Physics > Statistical Mechanics/Thermodynamics
Date: 2010
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/5204

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