The lawlike dynamics of tropes : A theory of natural laws in a one-category ontology
(2004)Department of Philosophy
- Abstract
- Trope theory is a philosophy that famously ?calls for completion in a dozen directions at once.? It is my intention here to walk some way one of these, where it, prima facie, seems that this theory might be in a worse position than the theory of universals. This subject is the one of natural laws, which due to their
general nature might appear to pose a problem for any strictly particularist
ontology. However, I will argue that, despite every trope's inherent particularity, we can still infer universal laws from them, if we correctly analyze what it means to have a property. This analysis leads us to an identification of the
property-possession with the causal powers it infers. The theory is then
employed in the analysis of Newtonian... (More) - Trope theory is a philosophy that famously ?calls for completion in a dozen directions at once.? It is my intention here to walk some way one of these, where it, prima facie, seems that this theory might be in a worse position than the theory of universals. This subject is the one of natural laws, which due to their
general nature might appear to pose a problem for any strictly particularist
ontology. However, I will argue that, despite every trope's inherent particularity, we can still infer universal laws from them, if we correctly analyze what it means to have a property. This analysis leads us to an identification of the
property-possession with the causal powers it infers. The theory is then
employed in the analysis of Newtonian gravitation, in order to give a concrete example of its application. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/1332735
- author
- Svensson, Staffan
- supervisor
- organization
- year
- 2004
- type
- H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
- subject
- keywords
- Trope theory, Newton, Williams, Systematic philosophy, ethics, aesthetics, metaphysics, epistemology, ideology, Systematisk filosofi, etik, estetik, metafysik, kunskapsteori, ideologi
- language
- English
- id
- 1332735
- date added to LUP
- 2004-01-28 00:00:00
- date last changed
- 2005-01-11 00:00:00
@misc{1332735,
abstract = {{Trope theory is a philosophy that famously ?calls for completion in a dozen directions at once.? It is my intention here to walk some way one of these, where it, prima facie, seems that this theory might be in a worse position than the theory of universals. This subject is the one of natural laws, which due to their
general nature might appear to pose a problem for any strictly particularist
ontology. However, I will argue that, despite every trope's inherent particularity, we can still infer universal laws from them, if we correctly analyze what it means to have a property. This analysis leads us to an identification of the
property-possession with the causal powers it infers. The theory is then
employed in the analysis of Newtonian gravitation, in order to give a concrete example of its application.}},
author = {{Svensson, Staffan}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The lawlike dynamics of tropes : A theory of natural laws in a one-category ontology}},
year = {{2004}},
}