A Theory of Laws of Nature, Dispositions, and Chances

A Theory of Laws of Nature, Dispositions, and Chances PDF Author: Heather Demarest
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy of nature
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description

A Theory of Laws of Nature, Dispositions, and Chances

A Theory of Laws of Nature, Dispositions, and Chances PDF Author: Heather Demarest
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Philosophy of nature
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Book Description


Natural Laws as Dispositions

Natural Laws as Dispositions PDF Author: Florian Fischer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783110594850
Category : PHILOSOPHY
Languages : en
Pages : 165

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Laws of Nature

Laws of Nature PDF Author: Tyler Hildebrand
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1009118196
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 164

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Book Description
This Element provides an opinionated introduction to the metaphysics of laws of nature. The first section distinguishes between scientific and philosophical questions about laws and describes some criteria for a philosophical account of laws. Subsequent sections explore the leading philosophical theories in detail, reviewing the most influential arguments in the literature. The final few sections assess the state of the field and suggest avenues for future research.

David Lewis

David Lewis PDF Author: Daniel Nolan
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317494512
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
David Lewis's work is of fundamental importance in many areas of philosophical inquiry and there are few areas of Anglo-American philosophy where his impact has not been felt. Lewis's philosophy also has a rare unity: his views form a comprehensive philosophical system, answering a broad range of questions in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language, philosophy of action and many other areas. This breadth of Lewis's work, however, has meant that it is difficult to know where to start in Lewis's work and a casual reader may often miss some of the illuminating connections between apparently quite disparate pieces of Lewis's work. This book aims to make this body of work more accessible to a general philosophical readership, while also providing a unified overview of the many contributions Lewis has made to contemporary Anglo-American philosophy. The book can be divided into four parts. The first part examines Lewis's metaphysical picture - one of the areas where he has had the greatest impact and also the framework for the rest of his theories. The second section discusses Lewis's important contributions in the philosophy of mind, language and meaning. The third part explores some of Lewis's work in decision theory, metaethics and applied ethics, areas where his work in not necessarily as widely appreciated, but in which he has done a range of work that is both accessible and important. The final section focuses on Lewis's distinctive philosophical method, perhaps one of his most significant legacies, which combines naturalism with "common-sense" theorizing.

The Nature and Laws of Chance

The Nature and Laws of Chance PDF Author: Thomas Simpson
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chance
Languages : en
Pages : 92

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Causation and Laws of Nature

Causation and Laws of Nature PDF Author: H. Sankey
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 9401592292
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 408

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Book Description
Causation and Laws of Nature is a collection of articles which represents current research on the metaphysics of causation and laws of nature, mostly by authors working in or active in the Australasian region. The book provides an overview of current work on the theory of causation, including counterfactual, singularist, nomological and causal process approaches. It also covers work on the nature of laws of nature, with special emphasis on the scientific essentialist theory that laws of nature are, at base, the fundamental dispositions or capacities of natural kinds of things. Because the book represents a good cross-section of authors currently working on these themes in the Australasian region, it conveys something of the interest and excitement of an active philosophical debate between advocates of several different research programmes in the area.

Probability

Probability PDF Author: D.H. Mellor
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134458606
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
Probability: A Philosophical Introduction introduces and explains the principal concepts and applications of probability. It is intended for philosophers and others who want to understand probability as we all apply it in our working and everyday lives. The book is not a course in mathematical probability, of which it uses only the simplest results, and avoids all needless technicality. The role of probability in modern theories of knowledge, inference, induction, causation, laws of nature, action and decision-making makes an understanding of it especially important to philosophers and students of philosophy, to whom this book will be invaluable both as a textbook and a work of reference. In this book D. H. Mellor discusses the three basic kinds of probability – physical, epistemic, and subjective – and introduces and assesses the main theories and interpretations of them. The topics and concepts covered include: * chance * frequency * possibility * propensity * credence * confirmation * Bayesianism. Probability: A Philosophical Introduction is essential reading for all philosophy students and others who encounter or need to apply ideas of probability.

A Companion to Metaphysics

A Companion to Metaphysics PDF Author: Jaegwon Kim
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9781444308532
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 680

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Book Description
Fully extended and revised, A Companion to Metaphysics 2ndEdition includes a section of detailed review essays fromrenowned metaphysicians, and the addition of more than 30 newencyclopedic entries, taking the number of entries to over 300. Includes revisions to existing encyclopedic entries Features more than 30 all-new "A to Z" entries Offers a section of in-depth, essays from renownedmetaphysicians Provides the most complete and up-to-date reference guide forstudents and professionals alike

A Basic Theory of Everything

A Basic Theory of Everything PDF Author: Atle Ottesen Søvik
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
ISBN: 3110771047
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 509

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Book Description
What are the basic building blocks of the world? This book presents a naturalistic theory saying that the universe and everything in it can be reduced to three fundamental entities: a field, a set of values that can be actualized at different places in the field, and an actualizer of the values. The theory is defended by using it to answer the main questions in metaphysics, such as: What is causality, existence, laws of nature, consciousness, thinking, free will, time, mathematical entities, ethical values, etc.? The theory is compared with the main alternatives and argued to solve problems better than the existing theories. Several new theories are suggested, such as how to understand mental causation, free will and the truth of ethics and mathematics.

Dispositions and Causal Powers

Dispositions and Causal Powers PDF Author: Bruno Gnassounou
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317149505
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 316

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Book Description
Dispositions are everywhere. We say that a wall is hard, that water quenches thirst and is transparent, that dogs can swim and oak trees can let their leaves fall, and that acid has the power to corrode metals. All these statements express attributions of dispositions, be they physical, physiological or psychological, yet there is much philosophical debate about how far, if at all, dispositional predicates can have complete meaning or figure in causal explanations. This collection of essays, by leading international researchers, examine the case for realism with respect to dispositions and causal powers in both metaphysics and science. Among the issues debated in this book is whether dispositions can be analyzed in terms of conditionals, whether all dispositions have a so-called categorical basis and, if they do, what is the relation between the disposition and its basis.