Lopez, Cristian (2023) The metaphysical underdetermination of time-reversal invariance. Synthese, 201 (29). ISSN 1573-0964
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Abstract
In this paper I argue that the concept of time-reversal invariance in physics suffers
from metaphysical underdetermination, that is, that the concept may be understood differently depending on one’s metaphysics about time, laws, and a theory’s basic properties. This metaphysical under-determinacy also affects subsidiary debates in the philosophy of physics that rely on the concept of time-reversal invariance, paradigmatically the problem of the arrow of time. I bring up three cases that, I believe, fairly illustrate my point. I conclude, on the one hand, that any formal representation of time reversal should be explicit about the metaphysical assumptions of the concept that it intends to represent; on the other, that philosophical arguments that rely on time reversal to argue against a direction of time require additional premises.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Time reversal · Direction of time · Time · Laws · Quantum mechanics · Classical mechanics · Classical electromagnetism | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Cristian Lopez | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 07 Feb 2025 14:06 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 07 Feb 2025 14:06 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 24654 | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Synthese | ||||||
| Publisher: | Springer (Springer Science+Business Media B.V.) | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-0... | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | 10.1007/s11229-023-04039-z | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 1 January 2023 | ||||||
| Volume: | 201 | ||||||
| Number: | 29 | ||||||
| ISSN: | 1573-0964 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24654 |
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