Lopez, Cristian (2023) Should physical symmetries guide metaphysics? Two reasons why they should maybe not. European Journal for Philosophy of Science. ISSN 1879-4912

Text EJPS_SymInf_CL.pdf Download (970kB)

Abstract

Symmetry-based inferences have permeated many discussions in the philosophy of physics and metaphysics of science. It is claimed that symmetries in our physical theories would allow us to draw metaphysical conclusions about the world, a view that I call ‘symmetry inferentialism’. This paper is critical to this view. I claim that (a) it assumes a philosophically questionable characterization of the relevant validity domain of physical symmetries, and (b) it overlooks a distinction between two opposing ways through which relevant physical symmetries become established. My conclusion is that symmetry inferentialism

---

Export/Citation:

EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Published Article or Volume
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Lopez, Cristian cristian.lopez@unil.ch 0000-0002-2883-4037
Keywords:	Symmetry · Metaphysics of Science · Fundamental Ontology · Dynamical Laws
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User:	Dr. Cristian Lopez
Date Deposited:	07 Jan 2025 13:35
Last Modified:	07 Jan 2025 13:35
Item ID:	24487
Journal or Publication Title:	European Journal for Philosophy of Science
Publisher:	Springer
Official URL:	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13194-0...
DOI or Unique Handle:	10.1007/s13194-023-00525-w
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date:	15 May 2023
ISSN:	1879-4912
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24487

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Altmetric.com

Actions (login required)

View Item