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Theory and Reality : Metaphysics as Second Science

Angere, Staffan LU (2010)
Abstract
Theory and Reality is about the connection between true theories and the world. A mathematical framefork for such connections is given, and it is shown how that framework can be used to infer facts about the structure of reality from facts about the structure of true theories,



The book starts with an overview of various approaches to metaphysics. Beginning with Quine's programmatic "On what there is", the first chapter then discusses the perils involved in going from language to metaphysics. It criticises contemporary intuition-driven metaphysics, comments on naturalistic approaches, and then presents the main proposition put forward in the thesis: we should base metaphysics on model theory.



In... (More)
Theory and Reality is about the connection between true theories and the world. A mathematical framefork for such connections is given, and it is shown how that framework can be used to infer facts about the structure of reality from facts about the structure of true theories,



The book starts with an overview of various approaches to metaphysics. Beginning with Quine's programmatic "On what there is", the first chapter then discusses the perils involved in going from language to metaphysics. It criticises contemporary intuition-driven metaphysics, comments on naturalistic approaches, and then presents the main proposition put forward in the thesis: we should base metaphysics on model theory.



In chapters 2 to 5, mathematical treatments are given of concepts that we need: theories, metaphysics, necessitation and semantics. These are used in chapters 6 and 7 to prove that, seen from a certain informative view point, any true theory will give rise to an isomorphism between that theory and the world. This conclusion is similar to Wittgenstein's in the Tractatus, but differs in that it places the structural relationship on the level of whole theories, rather than single propositions. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Popular Abstract in Swedish

"Theory and Reality" handlar om vilka slutsatser vi kan dra om världen från de vetenskapliga teorier vi har. I allmänhet är dessa svåra att tolka bokstavligt, och de används ofta just som redskap, snarare än som beskrivningar av verkligheten.



Men för att vara användbara redskap måste teorier ha vissa kopplingar till vad de handlar om. Theory and Reality beskriver sådana kopplingar i ett matematiskt ramverk, och visar hur vi kan dra slutsatser om verklighetens struktur från den logiska strukturen hos våra bästa teorier.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
supervisor
opponent
  • lektor Linnebo, Øystein, Birkbeck, University of London
organization
publishing date
type
Thesis
publication status
published
subject
keywords
necessitation, semantics, categories, Theory, metaphysics
pages
315 pages
defense location
Sal 104, Kungshuset, Lundagård, Lund
defense date
2010-11-20 10:15:00
ISBN
978-91-628-8207-5
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
0aece99b-a732-4053-8941-7a1c19161812 (old id 1698127)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 14:39:29
date last changed
2018-11-21 21:21:33
@phdthesis{0aece99b-a732-4053-8941-7a1c19161812,
  abstract     = {{Theory and Reality is about the connection between true theories and the world. A mathematical framefork for such connections is given, and it is shown how that framework can be used to infer facts about the structure of reality from facts about the structure of true theories,<br/><br>
<br/><br>
The book starts with an overview of various approaches to metaphysics. Beginning with Quine's programmatic "On what there is", the first chapter then discusses the perils involved in going from language to metaphysics. It criticises contemporary intuition-driven metaphysics, comments on naturalistic approaches, and then presents the main proposition put forward in the thesis: we should base metaphysics on model theory.<br/><br>
<br/><br>
In chapters 2 to 5, mathematical treatments are given of concepts that we need: theories, metaphysics, necessitation and semantics. These are used in chapters 6 and 7 to prove that, seen from a certain informative view point, any true theory will give rise to an isomorphism between that theory and the world. This conclusion is similar to Wittgenstein's in the Tractatus, but differs in that it places the structural relationship on the level of whole theories, rather than single propositions.}},
  author       = {{Angere, Staffan}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-628-8207-5}},
  keywords     = {{necessitation; semantics; categories; Theory; metaphysics}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  school       = {{Lund University}},
  title        = {{Theory and Reality : Metaphysics as Second Science}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/6410647/1698143.pdf}},
  year         = {{2010}},
}