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Anvil or Onion? Determinism as a Layered Concept

Bishop, Robert C (2004) Anvil or Onion? Determinism as a Layered Concept. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Stephen Kellert (1993) has argued that Laplacean determinism in classical physics is actually a layered concept, where various properties or layers composing this form of determinism can be peeled away. Here, I argue that a layered conception of determinism is inappropriate and that we should think in terms of different deterministic models applicable to different kinds of systems. The upshot of this analysis is that the notion of state is more closely tied to the kind of system being investigated than is usually considered in discussions of determinism. So when investigating determinism corresponding changes to the appropriate notion of state–and, perhaps, the state space itself–also need to be considered.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Bishop, Robert C
Additional Information: Accepted for publication in Erkenntnis
Keywords: Determinism, Physical Theories
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics
General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism
Depositing User: Dr Robert C. Bishop
Date Deposited: 15 Jan 2005
Last Modified: 07 Oct 2010 15:13
Item ID: 2150
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics
General Issues > Determinism/Indeterminism
Date: November 2004
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/2150

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