Relational Holism and Humean Supervenience

Darby, George

doi:10.1093/bjps/axr049

Cited by 29 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This approach is incompatible with the nomological interpretation of the wave-function, and its metaphysical characterizations in terms of dispositionalism and Humeanism. But one may still ground the multi-field on an extended Humean mosaic that also comprises contingent non-reducible relations (Darby, 2012). In this way, we would have a Humean interpretation, in which the wave-function is no longer a nomological entity because it is not part of the best system.…”

Section: The Multi-field Doesn't Give Us a New Ontological Understandmentioning

confidence: 99%

The wave-function as a multi-field

Hubert

Romano

2018

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

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It is generally argued that if the wave-function in the de Broglie-Bohm theory is a physical field, it must be a field in configuration space. Nevertheless, it is possible to interpret the wave-function as a multi-field in three-dimensional space. This approach hasn't received the attention yet it really deserves. The aim of this paper is threefold: first, we show that the wave-function is naturally and straightforwardly construed as a multi-field; second, we show why this interpretation is superior to other interpretations discussed in the literature; third, we clarify common misconceptions.

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Section: The Multi-field Doesn't Give Us a New Ontological Understandmentioning

confidence: 99%

The wave-function as a multi-field

Hubert

Romano

2018

Euro Jnl Phil Sci

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“…The most important suggestion in this respect is to admit irreducible relations of entanglement over and above the spatio-temporal relations to the ontological ground floor of Humeanism (Darby 2012) and to envisage developing a Humean version of ontic structural realism on the basis of including such relations (Lyre 2010). However, recognizing irreducible relations of quantum entanglement considerably restricts free combinatorialism and arguably implies a commitment to some sort of objective modality, since these relations tie the temporal development of -in the last resort all -quantum systems together, whatever their spatial distance may be.…”

Section: Physics and The Metaphysics Of Modalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Metaphysics of Science as Naturalized Metaphysics

Esfeld¹

2018

The Philosophy of Science

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This chapter outlines a metaphysics of science in the sense of a naturalized metaphysics. It considers in the first place the interplay of physics and metaphysics in Newtonian mechanics, then goes into the issues for the metaphysics of time that relativity physics raises, shows that what one considers as the referent of quantum theory depends on metaphysical considerations and finally explains how the stance that one takes with respect to objective modality and laws of nature shapes the options that are available for an ontology of quantum physics. In that way, this chapter seeks to make a case for a natural philosophy that treats physics and metaphysics as inseparable in the enquiry into the constitution of the world, there being neither a neo-positivist way of deducing metaphysics from the formalisms of physical theories, nor a neo-rationalist realm of investigation for metaphysics that is independent of physics.

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“…Lewis (1994, p. 474) seems to suggest a response which involves denying SEPARABILITY outright. Variations on this approach are also taken by Karakostas (2008); Esfeld (1999), and Darby (2012). This response requires formulating a view that satisfies two key conditions.…”

Section: Why Separability?mentioning

confidence: 99%

What the Humean Should Say About Entanglement

Bhogal

Perry

2015

Nous

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Tim Maudlin has influentially argued that Humeanism about laws of nature stands in conflict with quantum mechanics. Specifically Humeanism implies the principle Separability: the complete physical state of a world is determined by the intrinsic physical state of each space‐time point. Maudlin argues Separability is violated by the entangled states posited by QM. We argue that Maudlin only establishes that a stronger principle, which we call Strong Separability, is in tension with QM. Separability is not in tension with QM. Moreover, while the Humean requires Separability to capture the core tenets of her view, there's no Humean‐specific motivation for accepting Strong Separability. We go on to give a Humean account of entangled states which satisfies Separability. The core idea is that certain quantum states depend upon the Humean mosaic in much the same way as the laws do. In fact, we offer a variant of the Best System account on which the systemization procedure that generates the laws also serves to ground these states. We show how this account works by applying it to the example of Bohmian Mechanics. The 3N‐dimensional configuration space, the world particle in it and the wave function on it are part of the best system of the Humean mosaic, which consists of N particles moving in 3‐dimensional space. We argue that this account is superior to the Humean account of Bohmian Mechanics defended by Loewer and Albert, which takes the 3N‐dimensional space, and its inhabitants, as fundamental.

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Relational Holism and Humean Supervenience

Cited by 29 publications

References 14 publications

The wave-function as a multi-field

The wave-function as a multi-field

Metaphysics of Science as Naturalized Metaphysics

What the Humean Should Say About Entanglement

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