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Single Idea 16181
[filed under theme 26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 11. Against Laws of Nature
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Full Idea
For explanation simple laws must have the same form when they act together as when they act singly. ..But then what the law states cannot literally be true, for the consequences that occur if it acts alone are not what occurs when they act in combination.
Gist of Idea
Simple laws have quite different outcomes when they act in combinations
Source
Nancy Cartwright (How the Laws of Physics Lie [1983], 3.6)
Book Ref
Cartwright,Nancy: 'How the Laws of Physics Lie' [OUP 2002], p.72
A Reaction
This is Cartwright's basic thesis. Her point is that the laws 'lie', because they claim to predict a particular outcome which never ever actually occurs. She says we could know all the laws, and still not be able to explain anything.
The
17 ideas
from 'How the Laws of Physics Lie'
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6781
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There are fundamental explanatory laws (false!), and phenomenological laws (regularities)
[Cartwright,N, by Bird]
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16166
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Laws of appearances are 'phenomenological'; laws of reality are 'theoretical'
[Cartwright,N]
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16170
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To get from facts to equations, we need a prepared descriptions suited to mathematics
[Cartwright,N]
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16167
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Laws get the facts wrong, and explanation rests on improvements and qualifications of laws
[Cartwright,N]
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16169
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Laws apply to separate domains, but real explanations apply to intersecting domains
[Cartwright,N]
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16171
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The covering law view assumes that each phenomenon has a 'right' explanation
[Cartwright,N]
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16175
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A cause won't increase the effect frequency if other causes keep interfering
[Cartwright,N]
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16176
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Covering-law explanation lets us explain storms by falling barometers
[Cartwright,N]
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16177
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I disagree with the covering-law view that there is a law to cover every single case
[Cartwright,N]
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16178
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There are few laws for when one theory meets another
[Cartwright,N]
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16179
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Good organisation may not be true, and the truth may not organise very much
[Cartwright,N]
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16180
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You can't explain one quail's behaviour by just saying that all quails do it
[Cartwright,N]
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16181
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Simple laws have quite different outcomes when they act in combinations
[Cartwright,N]
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16182
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Two main types of explanation are by causes, or by citing a theoretical framework
[Cartwright,N]
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16183
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In science, best explanations have regularly turned out to be false
[Cartwright,N]
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16184
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An explanation is a model that fits a theory and predicts the phenomenological laws
[Cartwright,N]
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16185
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Causality indicates which properties are real
[Cartwright,N]
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