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Laws, Symmetry, and Symmetry Breaking: Invariance, Conservation Principles, and Objectivity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

John Earman
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Abstract

Given its importance in modern physics, philosophers of science have paid surprisingly little attention to the subject of symmetries and invariances, and they have largely neglected the subtopic of symmetry breaking. I illustrate how the topic of laws and symmetries brings into fruitful interaction technical issues in physics and mathematics with both methodological issues in philosophy of science, such as the status of laws of physics, and metaphysical issues, such as the nature of objectivity.

Type
Presidential Address
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 71 , Issue 5: Proceedings of the 2002 Biennial Meeting of The Philosophy of Science Association. Part II: Symposia Papers , December 2004 , pp. 1227 - 1241
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 by the Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

‡

The ungainly title is due to my desire to do homage to my predecessor, Bas van Fraassen, and my teacher, Robert Nozick. The version printed here is a brief summary of some of the major themes of the longer paper of the same title posted on the PhilSci Archive http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu.

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