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Physical Symmetries, Overarching Symmetries, and Consistency

Peterson, Daniel (2012) Physical Symmetries, Overarching Symmetries, and Consistency. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

In this paper I provide an account of physical symmetries, which are defined relative to a specific physical theory, and overarching symmetries, which hold across many different physical theories. I outline two general strategies for uniting disparate physical symmetries under the same overarching symmetry, calling the first "realist" and the second "conventionalist". Finally, I argue that, should physicists and philosophers be interested in finding symmetries that do interesting and helpful physical and metaphysical work, the realist strategy would serve them better than the conventionalist strategy.


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Item Type: Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Peterson, Danielpetersod@umich.edu
Keywords: Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Science, Metaphysics, Symmetry
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Depositing User: Daniel Peterson
Date Deposited: 13 Nov 2012 04:48
Last Modified: 13 Nov 2012 04:48
Item ID: 9441
Subjects: Specific Sciences > Physics > Symmetries/Invariances
Date: 16 November 2012
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9441

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