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Single Idea 15884

[filed under theme 10. Modality / A. Necessity / 7. Natural Necessity ]

Full Idea

A statement is a law of nature if it is true in all those worlds which differ only as to their initial conditions, that is in which the underlying mechanisms of nature are the same.

Gist of Idea

Laws of nature remain the same through any conditions, if the underlying mechanisms are unchanged

Source

Rom Harré (Laws of Nature [1993], 4)

Book Ref

Harré,Rom: 'Laws of Nature' [Duckworth 1993], p.87

A Reaction

Harré takes it that laws of nature have to be necessary, by definition. I like this way of expressing natural necessity, in terms of 'mechanisms' rather than of 'laws'. Where do the mechanisms get their necessity?

The 18 ideas with the same theme [necessary facts about the physical world]:

5047 The world is physically necessary, as its contrary would imply imperfection or moral absurdity [Leibniz]
5594 Natural necessity is the unconditioned necessity of appearances [Kant]
15884 Laws of nature remain the same through any conditions, if the underlying mechanisms are unchanged [Harré]
4797 Instead of being regularities, maybe natural laws are the weak a posteriori necessities of Kripke [Kripke, by Psillos]
17037 Physical necessity may be necessity in the highest degree [Kripke]
17058 What many people consider merely physically necessary I consider completely necessary [Kripke]
4970 What is often held to be mere physical necessity is actually metaphysical necessity [Kripke]
15214 Natural necessity is not logical necessity or empirical contingency in disguise [Harré/Madden]
15221 The relation between what a thing is and what it can do or undergo relate by natural necessity [Harré/Madden]
15224 A necessity corresponds to the nature of the actual [Harré/Madden]
15232 Natural necessity is when powerful particulars must produce certain results in a situation [Harré/Madden]
15288 People doubt science because if it isn't logically necessary it seems to be absolutely contingent [Harré/Madden]
15289 Property or event relations are naturally necessary if generated by essential mechanisms [Harré/Madden]
11978 Causal necessities hold in all worlds compatible with the laws of nature [Lewis]
2730 Because 'gold is malleable' is necessary does not mean that it is analytic [Audi,R]
14676 Nomological necessity is expressed with intransitive relations in modal semantics [Salmon,N]
11085 Nomological necessity is truth in all logically possible worlds with our laws [Hanna]
14552 Relations are naturally necessary when they are generated by the essential mechanisms of the world [Mumford/Anjum]