Kevin Davey
Biographic Data
| ID | 3874381 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Kevin Davey |
| GIVEN NAMES | Kevin |
| FAMILY NAME | Davey |
| SIGNATURE | DAVEY K |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Chicago |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8350-4380 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Apriori Knowledge in an Era of Computational Opacity
Can we acquire apriori mathematical knowledge from the outputs of computer programs? Although we claim Appel and Haken acquired apriori knowledge of the Four Color Theorem from their computer program insofar as it merely automated human forms of mathematical reasoning, the opacity of modern LLMs and DNNs creates obstacles in obtaining apriori mathematical knowledge in analogous ways. If however a proof-checker automating human forms of proof-chec…
There Are No Bad Lots, Only Bad Formulations of Inference to the Best Explanation
Characteristics and expectations among emergency department patients in India
In India, and many low-middle income countries (LMICs), emergency medicine (EM) remains a poorly defined specialty and an unregulated field of clinical practice. Recognition of the attitudes, understanding, and expectations of patients presenting to Indian EDs will be crucial to the continued development of EM as a specialty. This is a multicenter, prospective, cross sectional study of adult and pediatric patients presenting to the ED in three ge…
On Euclid and the Genealogy of Proof
I argue for an interpretation of Euclid’s postulates as principles grounding the science of measurement. Euclid’s Elements can then be viewed as an application of these basic principles of measurement to what I call general measurements—that is, metric comparisons between objects that are only partially specified. As a consequence, rather than being viewed as a tool for the production of certainty, mathematical proof can then be interpreted as th…
Inference to the best explanation and Norton's material theory of induction
Can good science be logically inconsistent
Thermodynamic Entropy and Its Relation to Probability in Classical Mechanics
A gas relaxing into equilibrium is often taken to be a process in which a system moves from an “improbable” to a “probable” state. Given that the thermodynamic entropy increases during such a process, it is natural to conjecture that the thermodynamic entropy is a measure of the probability of a macrostate. For nonideal classical gases, however, I claim that there is no clear sense in which the thermodynamic entropy of a macrostate measures its p…
Idealizations and Contextualism in Physics
Describing a physical system in idealized terms involves making claims about the system that we know to be literally false. Because of this, it is not clear how calculations involving idealizations can generate justified belief and explain facts about the world. I argue that this puzzling aspect of idealizations cannot be explained away by talking about approximations, as is often supposed. I develop a different account of how justified beliefs a…
What Is Gibbs's Canonical Distribution
Although the canonical distribution is one of the central tools of statistical mechanics, the reason for its effectiveness is poorly understood. This is due in part to the fact that there is no clear consensus on what it means to use the canonical distribution to describe a system in equilibrium with a heat bath. I examine some traditional views as to what sort of thing we should take the canonical distribution to represent. I argue that a less e…
The Justification of Probability Measures in Statistical Mechanics
According to a standard view of the second law of thermodynamics, our belief in the second law can be justified by pointing out that low-entropy macrostates are less probable than high-entropy macrostates, and then noting that a system in an improbable state will tend to evolve toward a more probable state. I would like to argue that this justification of the second law is unhelpful at best and wrong at worst, and will argue that certain puzzles …
Is Mathematical Rigor Necessary in Physics
Many arguments found in the physics literature involve concepts that are not well‐defined by the usual standards of mathematics. I argue that physicists are entitled to employ such concepts without rigorously defining them so long as they restrict the sorts of mathematical arguments in which these concepts are involved. Restrictions of this sort allow the physicist to ignore calculations involving these concepts that might lead to contradictory r…
Insufficient reason in the ‘new cosmological argument’
In a recent article in this journal, Richard Gale and Alexander Pruss offer a new cosmological proof for the existence of God relying only on the Weak Principle of Sufficient Reason, W-PSR. We argue that their proof relies on applications of W-PSR that cannot be justified, and that our modal intuitions simply do not support W-PSR in the way Gale and Pruss take them to
English imaginaries
1. Nancy Cunard and the Embrace of Alterity. 2. Herbert Read: from Greater Englishness to the American Stage. 3. J.B. Priestley: Post-scripts and Utopias. 4. Pete Townshend: Talking 'Bout Regeneration. 5. Vivienne Westwood: Fantasy Island. 6. David Dabydeen: the Empire Writes Back. 7. Mark Wallinger: Post-colonial Englishman
Idealizations and Contextualism in Physics
Describing a physical system in idealized terms involves making claims about the system that we know to be literally false. Because of this, it is not clear how calculations involving idealizations can generate justified belief and explain facts about the world. I argue that this puzzling aspect of idealizations cannot be explained away by talking about approximations, as is often supposed. I develop a different account of how justified beliefs a…
The Justification of Probability Measures in Statistical Mechanics
According to a standard view of the second law of thermodynamics, our belief in the second law can be justified by pointing out that low-entropy macrostates are less probable than high-entropy macrostates, and then noting that a system in an improbable state will tend to evolve toward a more probable state. I would like to argue that this justification of the second law is unhelpful at best and wrong at worst, and will argue that certain puzzles …
Inference to the best explanation and Norton's material theory of induction
Can good science be logically inconsistent
Thermodynamic Entropy and Its Relation to Probability in Classical Mechanics
A gas relaxing into equilibrium is often taken to be a process in which a system moves from an “improbable” to a “probable” state. Given that the thermodynamic entropy increases during such a process, it is natural to conjecture that the thermodynamic entropy is a measure of the probability of a macrostate. For nonideal classical gases, however, I claim that there is no clear sense in which the thermodynamic entropy of a macrostate measures its p…
What Is Gibbs's Canonical Distribution
Although the canonical distribution is one of the central tools of statistical mechanics, the reason for its effectiveness is poorly understood. This is due in part to the fact that there is no clear consensus on what it means to use the canonical distribution to describe a system in equilibrium with a heat bath. I examine some traditional views as to what sort of thing we should take the canonical distribution to represent. I argue that a less e…
Is Mathematical Rigor Necessary in Physics
Many arguments found in the physics literature involve concepts that are not well‐defined by the usual standards of mathematics. I argue that physicists are entitled to employ such concepts without rigorously defining them so long as they restrict the sorts of mathematical arguments in which these concepts are involved. Restrictions of this sort allow the physicist to ignore calculations involving these concepts that might lead to contradictory r…
English imaginaries
1. Nancy Cunard and the Embrace of Alterity. 2. Herbert Read: from Greater Englishness to the American Stage. 3. J.B. Priestley: Post-scripts and Utopias. 4. Pete Townshend: Talking 'Bout Regeneration. 5. Vivienne Westwood: Fantasy Island. 6. David Dabydeen: the Empire Writes Back. 7. Mark Wallinger: Post-colonial Englishman
Insufficient reason in the ‘new cosmological argument’
In a recent article in this journal, Richard Gale and Alexander Pruss offer a new cosmological proof for the existence of God relying only on the Weak Principle of Sufficient Reason, W-PSR. We argue that their proof relies on applications of W-PSR that cannot be justified, and that our modal intuitions simply do not support W-PSR in the way Gale and Pruss take them to
Is Mathematical Rigor Necessary in Physics
Many arguments found in the physics literature involve concepts that are not well‐defined by the usual standards of mathematics. I argue that physicists are entitled to employ such concepts without rigorously defining them so long as they restrict the sorts of mathematical arguments in which these concepts are involved. Restrictions of this sort allow the physicist to ignore calculations involving these concepts that might lead to contradictory r…
The Justification of Probability Measures in Statistical Mechanics
According to a standard view of the second law of thermodynamics, our belief in the second law can be justified by pointing out that low-entropy macrostates are less probable than high-entropy macrostates, and then noting that a system in an improbable state will tend to evolve toward a more probable state. I would like to argue that this justification of the second law is unhelpful at best and wrong at worst, and will argue that certain puzzles …
What Is Gibbs's Canonical Distribution
Although the canonical distribution is one of the central tools of statistical mechanics, the reason for its effectiveness is poorly understood. This is due in part to the fact that there is no clear consensus on what it means to use the canonical distribution to describe a system in equilibrium with a heat bath. I examine some traditional views as to what sort of thing we should take the canonical distribution to represent. I argue that a less e…
Thermodynamic Entropy and Its Relation to Probability in Classical Mechanics
A gas relaxing into equilibrium is often taken to be a process in which a system moves from an “improbable” to a “probable” state. Given that the thermodynamic entropy increases during such a process, it is natural to conjecture that the thermodynamic entropy is a measure of the probability of a macrostate. For nonideal classical gases, however, I claim that there is no clear sense in which the thermodynamic entropy of a macrostate measures its p…
Idealizations and Contextualism in Physics
Describing a physical system in idealized terms involves making claims about the system that we know to be literally false. Because of this, it is not clear how calculations involving idealizations can generate justified belief and explain facts about the world. I argue that this puzzling aspect of idealizations cannot be explained away by talking about approximations, as is often supposed. I develop a different account of how justified beliefs a…
Can good science be logically inconsistent
On Euclid and the Genealogy of Proof
I argue for an interpretation of Euclid’s postulates as principles grounding the science of measurement. Euclid’s Elements can then be viewed as an application of these basic principles of measurement to what I call general measurements—that is, metric comparisons between objects that are only partially specified. As a consequence, rather than being viewed as a tool for the production of certainty, mathematical proof can then be interpreted as th…
Inference to the best explanation and Norton's material theory of induction
Characteristics and expectations among emergency department patients in India
In India, and many low-middle income countries (LMICs), emergency medicine (EM) remains a poorly defined specialty and an unregulated field of clinical practice. Recognition of the attitudes, understanding, and expectations of patients presenting to Indian EDs will be crucial to the continued development of EM as a specialty. This is a multicenter, prospective, cross sectional study of adult and pediatric patients presenting to the ED in three ge…
There Are No Bad Lots, Only Bad Formulations of Inference to the Best Explanation
Apriori Knowledge in an Era of Computational Opacity
Can we acquire apriori mathematical knowledge from the outputs of computer programs? Although we claim Appel and Haken acquired apriori knowledge of the Four Color Theorem from their computer program insofar as it merely automated human forms of mathematical reasoning, the opacity of modern LLMs and DNNs creates obstacles in obtaining apriori mathematical knowledge in analogous ways. If however a proof-checker automating human forms of proof-chec…
Philosophy (11 works) · Epistemology (10 works) · Physics (7 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (6 works) · Mathematics (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Advanced Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics (3 works) · Linguistics (3 works) · Philosophy (3 works) · Philosophy and Theoretical Science (3 works)