Laws of Nature, or the Nature of Laws
In this talk Ragnhild Jordahl investigate two different ways of explaining laws; David Lewis’ doctrine of Humean Supervenience, and an understanding that links laws to dispositional essences, mainly focusing on the views of Brian Ellis and Alexander Bird.
Hovedinnhold
Abstract:
“What can possibly happen?” When we ask this question it is natural that we also question what may limit what can happen. Some important limitations lie in the Laws of Nature, and in this talk I argue that to understand possibility fully, one must also have an understanding of these laws.
But what is a Law of Nature? Laws may be seen as just “privileged regularities”, something that holds true in our universe, but that could have been different, or they can be seen as something more than mere regularities and in some sense necessary. Laws can be understood as something at work in-between passive objects in the world, pushing and pulling them around, or as something that is grounded in the objects themselves. But if the laws are seen as having their origin in the objects existing in the world, how may we then understand conservation laws and other global laws that do not seem to be grounded in particular objects in this way?
In this talk I investigate two different ways of explaining laws; David Lewis’ doctrine of Humean Supervenience, and an understanding that links laws to dispositionalessences, mainly focusing on the views of Brian Ellis and Alexander Bird.