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Laws of Nature in Van Frassen View

Ansarian, Zeinab | 2017

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  1. Type of Document: M.Sc. Thesis
  2. Language: Farsi
  3. Document No: 51328 (42)
  4. University: Sharif University of Technology
  5. Department: Philosophy of Science
  6. Advisor(s): Akbari Takhtameshlou, Javad
  7. Abstract:
  8. The importance of the issue of laws of nature is obvious so that some say the purpose of science is discovering the laws of nature. In his “laws and symmetry” (1989) van Fraassen takes an antirealistic position toward the laws. His project is to clear science from metaphysics, and since the notion of laws of nature has heavy metaphysical presuppositions it should be eliminated from the literature of science. He tries to provide three kinds of arguments against the notion of laws: first, historical arguments, second, arguing in favor of insufficiency of all presented accounts of laws, and third, rejecting the tasks that accounts of laws should do. In van Frassen’s view, studies of science should be started from itself. He suggests that “symmetry” lies at the most basic level of theorizing and model construction. The claim of this thesis is that the van Frassen’s description of symmetry is not fully consistent with what Physicists do. Symmetries in modern physics have close connection with laws of nature and its metaphysical assumption is not less than laws of nature. On the other hand if scientist accept van frassen’s point of view their motivation for advancement of science would decrease and specially theoretical sciences would lose their fertility
  9. Keywords:
  10. Symmetry ; Constructive Empiricism ; Scientific Realism ; Metaphysical Foundations ; Van Fraassen ; Nature Law ; Antirealism

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