Reduction as an a posteriori Relation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8399694 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Joshua Rosaler (0000-0002-5824-5671, RWTH Aachen University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2019 |
| Volume | 70 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 269-299 |
| Publication date | 2019-03-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axx026 |
| OpenAlex | W2398366030 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 21 |
Reduction between theories in physics is often approached as an a priori relation in the sense that reduction is often taken to depend only on a comparison of the mathematical structures of two theories. I argue that such purely formal approaches fail to capture one crucial sense of ‘reduction’, whereby one theory encompasses the set of real behaviours that are well modelled by the other. Reduction in this sense depends not only on the mathematical structures of the theories but also on empirical facts about where the theories succeed at describing real systems, and is therefore an a posteriori relation. I discuss several detailed implications of this claim for the methodology of inter-theory and inter-model reduction in physics. 1 Introduction2 Reduction as Domain Subsumption3 A Formal Approach to Reduction in Physics4 An Empirical Approach to Reduction in Physics 4.1 A potential concern 4.2 A local, empirical, model-based strategy for reduction in physics5 ConclusionAppendix
A priori and a posteriori · Dimensional reduction · Domain (mathematical analysis) · Epistemology · Mathematical economics · Reduction (mathematics) · Reduction strategy · Relation (database) · Set (abstract data type) · Computer Science · Mathematics · Origins and Evolution of Life · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Inter-theory relations in quantum gravity
Naturalness, Wilsonian renormalization, and “fundamental parameters” in quantum field theory
Phase Transitions
On the reduction of general relativity to Newtonian gravitation
Two Forms of Functional Reductionism in Physics
On the concept of systematization in the Kemeny-Oppenheim approach to intertheoretical reduction
In Search of the Holy Grail
Theoretical Relicts
Intertheoretical relationships based on three-model framework
The disorder of things
The Devil in the Details
The Emergent Multiverse
Less is Different
Two Concepts of Intertheoretic Reduction
The Dappled World
Who’s Afraid of Nagelian Reduction?
Interpretation neutrality in the classical domain of quantum theory
Local reduction in physics
Special sciences (or
The Multiple Realizability Argument Against Reductionism
The Semantic View, If Plausible, Is Syntactic
Towards a General Theory of Reduction. Part III
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,13 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2026 (9) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |