Schaffer on Laws of Nature

Alastair Wilson

doi:10.1007/s11098-012-9878-7

Schaffer on Laws of Nature

Alastair Wilson

Philosophy

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12 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

In ‘Quiddistic Knowledge’ (Schaffer in Philos Stud 123:1–32, 2005), Jonathan Schaffer argued influentially against the view that the laws of nature are metaphysically necessary. In this reply I aim to show how a coherent and well-motivated form of necessitarianism can withstand his critique. Modal necessitarianism—the view that the actual laws are the laws of all possible worlds—can do justice to some intuitive motivations for necessitarianism, and it has the resources to respond to all of Schaffer’s objections. It also has certain advantages over contingentism in the domain of modal epistemology. I conclude that necessitarianism about laws remains a live option.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	653-667
Number of pages	15
Journal	Philosophical Studies
Volume	164
Issue number	3
Early online date	14 Mar 2012
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11098-012-9878-7
Publication status	Published - 2013

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title = "Schaffer on Laws of Nature",

abstract = "In {\textquoteleft}Quiddistic Knowledge{\textquoteright} (Schaffer in Philos Stud 123:1–32, 2005), Jonathan Schaffer argued influentially against the view that the laws of nature are metaphysically necessary. In this reply I aim to show how a coherent and well-motivated form of necessitarianism can withstand his critique. Modal necessitarianism—the view that the actual laws are the laws of all possible worlds—can do justice to some intuitive motivations for necessitarianism, and it has the resources to respond to all of Schaffer{\textquoteright}s objections. It also has certain advantages over contingentism in the domain of modal epistemology. I conclude that necessitarianism about laws remains a live option.",

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Schaffer on Laws of Nature

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