A Puzzle about Laws, Symmetries and Measurability

Datos Bibliográficos

ID8396372
AutoresJohn Roberts (0000-0002-0059-430X, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, autor de correspondencia), John T Roberts
Año2008
Volumen59
Número2
Páginas143-168
Fecha de publicación2008-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537
EditorialOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/bjps/axn009
OpenAlexW2108550857
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas29
Referencias citadas5

I describe a problem about the relations among symmetries, laws and measurable quantities. I explain why several ways of trying to solve it will not work, and I sketch a solution that might work. I discuss this problem in the context of Newtonian theories, but it also arises for many other physical theories. The problem is that there are two ways of defining the space-time symmetries of a physical theory: as its dynamical symmetries or as its empirical symmetries. The two definitions are not equivalent, yet they pick out the same extension. This coincidence cries out for explanation, and it is not clear what the explanation could be. 1. The Puzzle: Symmetries, Measurability and Invariance1.1 The symmetries and the measurable quantities of Newtonian mechanics1.2 The puzzle2. Two Easy Answers3. Another Unsuccessful Solution: Appeal to Geometrical Symmetries4. Locating the Puzzle5. The Relation between Laws and Measurability6. A Possible Solution

Appeal · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Extension (predicate logic) · Geometry · Homogeneous space · Mathematical economics · Physical law · Physics · Sketch · Space (punctuation) · Theoretical physics · Computer Science · Law · Mathematical and Theoretical Analysis · Mathematics · Philosophy · Quantum Mechanics and Applications · Relativity and Gravitational Theory