Humeanism, Best System Laws, and Emergence

Bibliographic Data

ID10707145
AuthorsOlivier Sartenaer (0000-0002-4670-6223, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume86
Issue4
Pages719-738
Publication date2019-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePhilosophy of Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0031-8248 • E-ISSN: 1539-767X
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1086/704979
OpenAlexW2910321689
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited27

In the current article and contrary to a widespread assumption, I argue that Humeanism and ontological emergence can peacefully coexist. Such a coexistence can be established by reviving elements of John Stuart Mill’s philosophy of science, in which an idiosyncratic account of diachronic emergence is associated with extensions of the Humean mosaic and the correlative coming into being of new best system laws, which have the peculiarity of being temporally indexed. Incidentally, this reconciliation of Humeanism and emergence allows for conceiving the autonomy of the special sciences in an interesting way, consistently with the reductionist ideal of a unified science

Autonomy · Correlative · Epistemology · Ideal (ethics) · Mill · Philosophy of science · Political science · Reductionism · Sociology · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · History · Law · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Philosophy and Theoretical Science

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