Letertre, Laurie (2025) Non-Humean laws of nature without spacetime. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Recent approaches in quantum gravity suggest that spacetime may not be a fundamental aspect of reality, but rather an emergent phenomenon arising from a more fundamental substratum. This raises a significant challenge for traditional accounts of laws of nature, which are typically grounded in spatiotemporal concepts. This paper discusses two non-Humean strategies for formulating laws of nature in the absence of spacetime: the 'non-temporal evolution' approach and the 'global constraints' approach. The argument begins by showing that the latter permits a more naturalistic stance than the former. A tentative defence is then provided against the objection that laws as global constraints are too thin to provide genuine metaphysical intelligibility and explanatory power.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Letertre, Laurie laurie.letertre@gmail.com 0000-0001-8222-7644
Keywords:	Non-Humeanism, Laws of nature, Global Constraints, Laws as constraints, quantum gravity, non-fundamental spacetime, metaphysics of laws, counterfactuals, possible worlds, primitivism, dispositionalism, natural necessity
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Laws of Nature General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Physics
Depositing User:	Dr Laurie Letertre
Date Deposited:	12 Jul 2025 15:25
Last Modified:	12 Jul 2025 15:25
Item ID:	25940
Subjects:	General Issues > Scientific Metaphysics General Issues > Laws of Nature General Issues > Philosophers of Science Specific Sciences > Physics
Date:	2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/25940

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