Rosaler, Joshua (2016) Reduction as an A Posteriori Relation. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Reduction between theories in physics is often approached as an a priori relation in the sense that reduction is often taken to depend only on a comparison of the mathematical structures of two theories. I argue that such approaches fail to capture one crucial sense of “reduction,” whereby one theory encompasses the set of real behaviors that are well-modeled by the other. Reduction in this sense depends not only on the mathematical structures of the theories, but also on empirical facts about where our theories succeed at describing real systems, and is therefore an a posteriori relation.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Rosaler, Joshua jrosaler@gmail.com
Keywords:	reduction, emergence, a priori, a posteriori, limits, bridge function, physics, quantum gravity
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change
Depositing User:	Dr. Joshua Rosaler
Date Deposited:	06 Jul 2016 12:21
Last Modified:	06 Jul 2016 12:21
Item ID:	12263
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics > Classical Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Gravity Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Field Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Quantum Mechanics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism General Issues > Reductionism/Holism Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory General Issues > Structure of Theories General Issues > Theory Change
Date:	5 July 2016
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/12263

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• Reduction as an A Posteriori Relation. (deposited 19 May 2016 02:30)
  • Reduction as an A Posteriori Relation. (deposited 06 Jul 2016 12:21) [Currently Displayed]

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