Reutlinger, Alexander (2010) A Theory of Non-Universal Laws. In: UNSPECIFIED.

Microsoft Word (.doc) PSA_Non-Universal_Laws.doc Download (85kB)

Abstract

Laws in the special sciences are usually regarded to be non-universal. Due to their non-universality, theories of laws in the special sciences face two challenges: (I) According to Lange’s dilemma, they are either false or trivial; (II) they have to meet the Requirement of Relevance. I argue that both challenges can be meet, if one distinguishes four dimensions of (non-)universality. In the upshot, I argue for the following explication of special science laws: L is a special science law iff (1) L is a system law, (2) L is backed up a methodology to describe disturbing factors and (3) L is invariant.

---

Export/Citation:

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

Social Networking:

Share |

---

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Reutlinger, Alexander
Keywords:	ceteris paribus laws, invariance
Subjects:	General Issues > Laws of Nature
Depositing User:	Alexander Reutlinger
Date Deposited:	01 Feb 2010
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:19
Item ID:	5139
Subjects:	General Issues > Laws of Nature
Date:	2010
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/5139

Monthly Views for the past 3 years

Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years

Plum Analytics

Actions (login required)

View Item