more on this theme     |     more from this text


Single Idea 17563

[filed under theme 27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 3. Chromodynamics / a. Chromodynamics ]

Full Idea

The strong force doesn't always pull nucleons together, but pushes them apart if they get too close.

Gist of Idea

The strong force pulls, but also pushes apart if nucleons get too close together

Source

Peter van Inwagen (Material Beings [1990], 07)

Book Ref

Inwagen,Peter van: 'Material Beings' [Cornell 1995], p.67


A Reaction

Philosophers tend to learn their physics from other philosophers. But that's because philosophers are brilliant at picking out the interesting parts of physics, and skipping the boring stuff.

Related Idea

Idea 21186 Quarks rush wildly around in protons, restrained by the gluons [Hesketh]


The 46 ideas from Peter van Inwagen

Determinism clashes with free will, as the past determines action, and is beyond our control [Inwagen, by Jackson]
What in the real world could ground the distinction between the sets {A,{A,B}} and {B,{A,B}}? [Inwagen]
I assume matter is particulate, made up of 'simples' [Inwagen]
Material objects are in space and time, move, have a surface and mass, and are made of some stuff [Inwagen]
Is one atom a piece of gold, or is a sizable group of atoms required? [Inwagen]
Variables are just like pronouns; syntactic explanations get muddled over dummy letters [Inwagen]
Special Composition Question: when is a thing part of something? [Inwagen]
If contact causes composition, do two colliding balls briefly make one object? [Inwagen]
If bricks compose a house, that is at least one thing, but it might be many things [Inwagen]
The statue and lump seem to share parts, but the statue is not part of the lump [Inwagen]
The essence of a star includes the released binding energy which keeps it from collapse [Inwagen]
The strong force pulls, but also pushes apart if nucleons get too close together [Inwagen]
Nihilism says composition between single things is impossible [Inwagen]
I think parthood involves causation, and not just a reasonably stable spatial relationship [Inwagen]
A tumour may spread a sort of life, but it is not a life, or an organism [Inwagen]
Unlike waves, lives are 'jealous'; it is almost impossible for them to overlap [Inwagen]
The chemical reactions in a human life involve about sixteen elements [Inwagen]
A flame is like a life, but not nearly so well individuated [Inwagen]
Every physical thing is either a living organism or a simple [Inwagen]
If there are no tables, but tables are things arranged tablewise, the denial of tables is a contradiction [Liggins on Inwagen]
We could refer to tables as 'xs that are arranged tablewise' [Inwagen]
Actions by artefacts and natural bodies are disguised cooperations, so we don't need them [Inwagen]
Actuality proves possibility, but that doesn't explain how it is possible [Inwagen]
There is no reason to think that mere existence is a valuable thing [Inwagen]
The persistence of artifacts always covertly involves intelligent beings [Inwagen]
If God were to 'reassemble' my atoms of ten years ago, the result would certainly not be me [Inwagen]
If you knead clay you make an infinite series of objects, but they are rearrangements, not creations [Inwagen]
I reject talk of 'stuff', and treat it in terms of particles [Inwagen]
Counterparts reduce counterfactual identity to problems about similarity relations [Inwagen]
When an electron 'leaps' to another orbit, is the new one the same electron? [Inwagen]
One's mental and other life is centred on the brain, unlike any other part of the body [Inwagen]
Being part of an organism's life is a matter of degree, and vague [Inwagen]
Singular terms can be vague, because they can contain predicates, which can be vague [Inwagen]
If you reject transitivity of vague identity, there is no Ship of Theseus problem [Inwagen]
There are no heaps [Inwagen]
The 'Law' of Excluded Middle needs all propositions to be definitely true or definitely false [Inwagen]
We should talk of the transitivity of 'identity', and of 'definite identity' [Inwagen]
At the lower level, life trails off into mere molecular interaction [Inwagen]
Some events are only borderline cases of lives [Inwagen]
Life is vague at both ends, but could it be totally vague? [Inwagen]
A merely possible object clearly isn't there, so that is a defective notion [Inwagen]
Merely possible objects must be consistent properties, or haecceities [Inwagen]
We can deny whole objects but accept parts, by referring to them as plurals within things [Inwagen, by Liggins]
Maybe table-shaped particles exist, but not tables [Inwagen, by Lowe]
Mereology is 'nihilistic' (just atoms) or 'universal' (no restrictions on what is 'whole') [Inwagen, by Varzi]
Virtue theory needs an external standard to judge behaviour and character [Inwagen, by Statman]