Unit:
Κατεύθυνση Φιλοσοφία της Επιστήμης και της ΤεχνολογίαςLibrary of the School of Science
Author:
Mitsis-Koutoukis Alexandros
Supervisors info:
Ψύλλος Ευστάθιος, Καθηγητής, Ιστορία και Φιλοσοφία της Επιστήμης και της Τεχνολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Δημητρακόπουλος Κωνσταντίνος, Καθηγητής, Ιστορία και Φιλοσοφία της Επιστήμης και της Τεχνολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Χατζημωϋσής Αντώνης, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Ιστορία και Φιλοσοφία της Επιστήμης και της Τεχνολογίας, ΕΚΠΑ
Original Title:
Νόμοι της Φύσης: MRL και ADT
Translated title:
Laws of Nature: MRL and ADT
Summary:
The present dissertation focuses on the two broad categories in which theories of the laws of nature are distinguished: regularity theories and theories regarding relations among universals. The former views the laws of nature as regularities, such as that every A consistently succeeds every B. The latter views the laws of nature as relations among universals, either among properties or among types, such as that the property F is somehow related with the property G.
Regularity theories were born by David Hume’s ideas regarding necessity and causality, with the first systematic theory being RVL (Regularity View of Laws). David Lewis completed the task pertaining the regularity theories and introduced MRL (Mill-Ramsey-Lewis) which accounts for the main representative of regularity theories until now.
The theories regarding the relations among universals were initially introduced by Michael Tooley, who came up with the idea of nomic necessitation. After Tooley, Fred Dretske and principally David Armstrong constructed ADT, which is described and characterized by the N(F,G) which account for a law of nature.
As it will be strenuously described, both theories encountered intense critique, whose contribution is that the matter relating to the ontological status of laws of nature being still unresolved.
Main subject category:
Science
Other subject categories:
Philosophy - Psychology
Keywords:
Laws of nature, MRL, ADT, necessity, regularity, relations among universals, Davind Lewis, David Armstrong
