Typicality Reasoning in Probability, Physics, and Metaphysics

Typicality Reasoning in Probability, Physics, and Metaphysics – Ebook Instant Download/Delivery ISBN(s): 9783031334474,3031334477,9783031334481, 3031334485

Product detail:

• ISBN 10: 3031334485
• ISBN 13: 9783031334481
• Author: Dustin Lazarovici

This book provides a comprehensive investigation into the concept of typicality and its significance for physics and the philosophy of science. It identifies typicality as a fundamental way of reasoning, central to how natural laws explain and are tested against phenomena. The book discusses various applications of typicality to foundational questions in physics and beyond.These include: a unified interpretation of objective probabilities in classical mechanics and quantum mechanics a detailed discussion of Boltzmann’s statistical mechanics, entropy, and the second law of thermodynamics a novel account of the asymmetry of causation and the arrow of time   Finally, the book turns to the question: “What are laws of nature”? It argues that typicality extends to a powerful way of reasoning in metaphysics that can and should inform our commitments about the fundamental ontology of the world. On this basis, it develops an argument against theHumean best system account, according to which laws of nature are merely an efficient summary of contingent regularities.

Table of contents:

1. 1. Introduction
2. Part I. Probability
3. 2. Typicality in Probability Theory
4. 3. Cournot’s Principle
5. 4. A Typicality Theory of Probability
6. 5. The Mentaculus: Typicality Versus Humean Chances
7. 6. The Structure of Typicality
8. Part II. Physics
9. 7. From the Universe to Subsystems
10. 8. Boltzmann’s Statistical Mechanics
11. 9. It’s Complicated: The Relationship between Physics and Mathematics
12. 10. Boltzmann Equation and the H-Theorem
13. 11. Past Hypothesis and the Arrow of Time
14. 12. Causality and the Arrow of Time
15. 13. Quantum Mechanics
16. Part III. Beyond Physics
17. 14. Other Applications of Typicality
18. 15. Special Science Laws
19. 16. Typicality and the Metaphysics of Laws

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