Antoniou, Antonis (2025) Laws, Initial Conditions and Physical Modality: Lessons from Cosmology. Foundations of Science, 55 (28).
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Abstract
Certain considerations from cosmology (Ellis 2006, 2014) and other areas of physics (Sklar, 1990; Frisch, 2004) pose challenges to the traditional distinction between laws and initial conditions, indicating the need for a more nuanced understanding of physical modality. A solution to these challenges is provided by presenting a conceptual framework according to which laws and fundamental lawlike assumptions within a theory’s nomic structure determine what is physically necessary and what is physically contingent from a physical theory’s point of view. Initial conditions are defined within this framework in terms of the possible configurations of a physical system allowed by the laws and other lawlike assumptions of a theory. The proposed deflationary framework of physical modality offers an alternative way of understanding the distinction between laws and initial conditions and allows the question of the modal status of the initial conditions of the Universe to be asked in a meaningful way.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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| Keywords: | Physical modality, Necessity, Contingency, Laws, Initial conditions, Cosmology | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Antonis Antoniou | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 04 Apr 2025 14:05 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 04 Apr 2025 14:05 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 24998 | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Foundations of Science | ||||||
| Publisher: | Springer | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://rdcu.be/eglbo | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10701-025-00841-6 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology General Issues > Laws of Nature Specific Sciences > Physics Specific Sciences > Physics > Relativity Theory Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances |
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| Date: | 2025 | ||||||
| Volume: | 55 | ||||||
| Number: | 28 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/24998 |
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