The Explanatory Power of Phase Spaces

David Malament argued that Hartry Field's nominalisation program is unlikely to be able to deal with non-space-time theories such as phase-space theories. We give a specific example of such a phase-space theory and argue that this presentation of the theory delivers explanations that are not av...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophia mathematica 2008-06, Vol.16 (2), p.227-243
Main Authors: Lyon, Aidan, Colyvan, Mark
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:David Malament argued that Hartry Field's nominalisation program is unlikely to be able to deal with non-space-time theories such as phase-space theories. We give a specific example of such a phase-space theory and argue that this presentation of the theory delivers explanations that are not available in the classical presentation of the theory. This suggests that even if phase-space theories can be nominalised, the resulting theory will not have the explanatory power of the original. Phase-space theories thus raise problems for nominalists that go beyond Malament's initial concerns.
ISSN:0031-8019
1744-6406
DOI:10.1093/philmat/nkm025