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Single Idea 16177

[from 'How the Laws of Physics Lie' by Nancy Cartwright, in 14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / e. Lawlike explanations ]

Full Idea

Covering-law theorists tend to think that nature is well-regulated; in the extreme, that there is a law to cover every case. I do not.

Gist of Idea

I disagree with the covering-law view that there is a law to cover every single case

Source

Nancy Cartwright (How the Laws of Physics Lie [1983], 2.2)

Book Reference

Cartwright,Nancy: 'How the Laws of Physics Lie' [OUP 2002], p.49


A Reaction

The problem of coincidence is somewhere at the back of this thought. Innumerable events have their own explanations, but it is hard to explain their coincidence (see Aristotle's case of bumping into a friend in the market).

Related Idea

Idea 16178 There are few laws for when one theory meets another [Cartwright,N]