Laws and Explanations; Theories and Modal Possibilities

Description

The book has two parts: In the first, after a review of some seminal classical accounts of laws and explanations, a new account is proposed for distinguishing between laws and accidental generalizations (LAG). Among the new consequences of this proposal it is proved that any explanation of a contingent generalization shows that the generalization is not accidental. The second part involves physical theories, their modality, and their explanatory power. In particular, it is shown that (1) Each theory has a theoretical implication structure associated with it, such that there are new physical modal operators on these structures and also special modal entities that are in these structures. A special subset of the physical modals, the nomic modals are associated with the laws of theories. (2) The familiar idea that theories always explain laws by deduction of them has to be seriously modified in light of the fact that there are a host of physical theories (including for example, Newtonian Classical mechanics, Hamiltonian, and Lagrangian theory, and probability theory) that we believe are schematic (they do not have any truth value). Nevertheless, we think that there is a kind of non-deductive explanation and generality that they achieve by subsumtion under a schema. Front Matter ....Pages i-ix Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Introduction (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 3-14 Hempel’s Deductive-Nomological Model: In the Beginning … (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 15-22 Laws and Corresponding Counterfactuals, – An Untenable Connection (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 23-29 F. Dretske’s Total Rejection of the Hempel-Model (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 31-42 Prelude to Armstrong: A Mathematical Revolution That Inspired F. Ramsey, and Left Russell and Armstrong Unmoved (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 43-61 D. Armstrong’s Account of Laws: Identity Lost, Regained, and Lost Again (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 63-74 Laws and Accidental Generalities (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 75-87 Front Matter ....Pages 89-89 The Explanation of Laws: Two Neglected and Radically Different Theories. One Inspired by D. Hilbert; the Other Inspired by F. Ramsey (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 91-112 David Hilbert’s Architecture of Theories and Schematic Structuralism (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 113-129 Theories, Theoretical Scenarios, Their Magnitude Vector Spaces and the Modal Physical Possibilities they Provide (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 131-142 The Possibilities That Theories Provide (Physical Modals) and the Possibilities of Laws (Nomic Modals) (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 143-158 Schematic Theories, Subsumtion of Laws, and Non-accidental Generalizations (Arnold Koslow)....Pages 159-177 Back Matter ....Pages 179-185