Ballinger, Clint (2008) Initial Conditions and the ‘Open Systems’ Argument against Laws of Nature. [Preprint]

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Abstract

This article attacks “open systems” arguments that because constant conjunctions are not generally observed in the real world of open systems we should be highly skeptical that universal laws exist. This work differs from other critiques of open system arguments against laws of nature by not focusing on laws themselves, but rather on the inference from open systems. We argue that open system arguments fail for two related reasons; 1) because they cannot account for the “systems” central to their argument (nor the implied systems labeled “exogenous factors” in relation to the system of interest) and 2) they are nomocentric, fixated on laws while ignoring initial and antecedent conditions that are able to account for systems and exogenous factors within a fundamentalist framework.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Ballinger, Clint
Additional Information:	Determinism; Laws of nature; Open systems; Cartwright; Quantum Decoherence
Subjects:	General Issues > Laws of Nature General Issues > Causation General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Depositing User:	Clint Ballinger
Date Deposited:	21 Jul 2008
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:16
Item ID:	4126
Subjects:	General Issues > Laws of Nature General Issues > Causation General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism
Date:	April 2008
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/4126

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