Abstract
This paper explores the idea that laws express relationships between properties or universals as defended in Michael Tooley's recent book Causation: A Realist Approach. I suggest that the most plausible version of realism will take a different form than that advocated by Tooley. According to this alternative, laws are grounded in facts about the capacities and powers of particular systems, rather than facts about relations between universals. The notion of lawfulness is linked to the notion of invariance, rather than to the metaphysical notion of a necessary connection.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ArmstrongD.: 1983, What is a Law of Nature?, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
BraithwaiteR. B.: 1955, Scientific Explanation, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
CartwrightN.: 1983, How the Laws of Physics Lie, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
CartwrightN.: 1989, Nature's Capacities and Their Measurement, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
DretskeF.: 1977, ‘Laws of Nature’, Philosophy of Science, 44, 248–68.
DupréJ. and CartwrightN.: 1988. Probability and Causality: Why Hume and Indeterminism Don't Mix’, Nous 22 521–36.
EellsE. and SoberE.: 1983, ‘Probabilistic Causality and the Question of Transitivity’, Philosophy of Science 50, 35–57.
FoxJ.: 1984, Linear Statistical Models and Related Methods, John Wiley, New York.
GiereR.: 1988, Explaining Science, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
GoodmanN.: 1954, Fact, Fiction and Forecast, The Athlore Press, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
HumphreysP.: 1989, The Chances of Explanation, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
HurwiczLeo: 1962, ‘On the Structural Form of Interdependent Systems’, in E.Nagel et al. (ed.), Logic, Methodology, and the Philosophy of Science, Stanford University Press, Palto Alto, California.
KoopmansT. C.: 1950, ‘When is an Equation System Complete for Statistical Purposes?’, in T. C.Koopmans (ed.), Statistical Inference in Dynamic Economic Models, John Wiley, New York.
LewisD.: 1970, ‘How to Define Theoretical Terms’, Journal of Philosophy 67, 427–46.
LewisD.: 1976, Philosophical Papers, Vol. II, Oxford University Press, New York.
LucasR. E.: 1976, ‘Econometric Policy Evaluation: A Critique’, in K.Brunner and A.Meltzer (eds.), volume 1 of the Camegie-Rochester Conferences on Public Policy, supplementary series to the Journal of Monetary Economics, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
LyonA.: 1977, ‘The Immutable Laws of Nature’, in The Aristotelian Society 1976/1977, Compton Press, Tisbury, Wiltshire.
MarschakJ.: 1953, ‘Economic Measurements for Policy and Prediction’, in W. I.Wood and T. C.Koopmans (eds.), Studies in Econometric Method, Yale University Press, New Haven.
SimonH.: 1953, ‘Causal Ordering and Identifiability’, in W. C.Hood and T. C.Koopmans (eds.), Studies in Econometric Method, Cowles Commission, Monograph, No. 14. John Wiley, New York, pp. 49–74.
SkyrmsB.: 1980, Causal Necessity, Yale University Press, New Haven.
TooleyM.: 1977, ‘The Nature of Laws’, Canadian Journal of Philosophy 7, 667–98.
VanFraassenB.: 1989, Laws and Symmetry, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Woodward, J.: 1988, ‘Understanding Regression’, in A. Fine and J. Leplin (eds.), PSA 1988, Proceedings of the 1988 Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Philosophy of Science Association, East Lansing.
WoodwardJ.: 1990a, ‘Laws and Causes’, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 41, 553–573.
WoodwardJ.: 1990b, ‘Supervenience and Singular Causal Claims’, in D.Knowles (ed.), Explanation and its Limits, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Woodward, J. Realism about laws. Erkenntnis 36, 181–218 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217473
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00217473