Combining Texts

All the ideas for 'Explanation: the state of play', 'Logical Necessity' and 'The Character of Physical Law'

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18 ideas

1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 7. Despair over Philosophy
15970 People generalise because it is easier to understand, and that is mistaken for deep philosophy [Feynman]
4. Formal Logic / D. Modal Logic ML / 3. Modal Logic Systems / h. System S5
12204 The logic of metaphysical necessity is S5 [Rumfitt]
5. Theory of Logic / B. Logical Consequence / 1. Logical Consequence
12195 Soundness in argument varies with context, and may be achieved very informally indeed [Rumfitt]
12199 There is a modal element in consequence, in assessing reasoning from suppositions [Rumfitt]
12201 We reject deductions by bad consequence, so logical consequence can't be deduction [Rumfitt]
5. Theory of Logic / D. Assumptions for Logic / 3. Contradiction
12194 Contradictions include 'This is red and not coloured', as well as the formal 'B and not-B' [Rumfitt]
5. Theory of Logic / H. Proof Systems / 2. Axiomatic Proof
12198 Geometrical axioms in logic are nowadays replaced by inference rules (which imply the logical truths) [Rumfitt]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 3. Types of Necessity
14532 A distinctive type of necessity is found in logical consequence [Rumfitt, by Hale/Hoffmann,A]
10. Modality / A. Necessity / 6. Logical Necessity
12193 Logical necessity is when 'necessarily A' implies 'not-A is contradictory' [Rumfitt]
12200 A logically necessary statement need not be a priori, as it could be unknowable [Rumfitt]
12202 Narrow non-modal logical necessity may be metaphysical, but real logical necessity is not [Rumfitt]
10. Modality / E. Possible worlds / 1. Possible Worlds / e. Against possible worlds
12203 If a world is a fully determinate way things could have been, can anyone consider such a thing? [Rumfitt]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 1. Explanation / b. Aims of explanation
12314 Audience-relative explanation, or metaphysical explanation based on information? [Stanford]
12313 Explanation is for curiosity, control, understanding, to make meaningful, or to give authority [Stanford]
14. Science / D. Explanation / 2. Types of Explanation / j. Explanations by reduction
12315 We can explain by showing constitution, as well as showing causes [Stanford]
26. Natural Theory / D. Laws of Nature / 4. Regularities / a. Regularity theory
9410 Physical Laws are rhythms and patterns in nature, revealed by analysis [Feynman]
27. Natural Reality / B. Modern Physics / 2. Electrodynamics / d. Quantum mechanics
18530 Nobody understands quantum mechanics [Feynman]
27. Natural Reality / C. Space / 3. Points in Space
17707 We should regard space as made up of many tiny pieces [Feynman, by Mares]