Natural Laws.
As invoked in legal or ethical theories.
Nor Scientific Laws.
Which in theory, some researchers consider to be the scientists' attempts...
To state or approximate the Laws of Nature.
It explores issues in contemporary metaphysics.
Within Metaphysics there are two competing theories:
1. Regularity Theory.
Laws of Nature are statement uniformities.
Or regularities in the world; they are mere descriptions of the way the world is.
2. Necessitarian Theory.
Laws of Nature are the "principles" which govern the natural phenomena of the world.
That is, the natural world "obeys" the Laws of Nature.
This surprisingly innocuous difference marks one of the most abysmal gulfs within... Contemporary Philosophy.
Theories as to the features of Laws of Nature fall into two distinct schools:
The Humeans (or Neo-Humeans).
The Necessitarians on the other.
THE LAWS OF NATURE.
- All truths are factual not logical.
- Are true for everytime and every place in the universe.
- Contain no proper names
- Are universal or statistical claims
- Are conditional claims, not categorial ones.
Some of these implications involve accidental truths.
False Existentials.
The correspondence theory of truth, and the concept of free will.
Perhaps the most important implication of each theory:
Is the universe a cosmic coincidence or is it driven by specific, Eternal Laws of Nature?
Each side takes a different stance on each of these issues.
To adopt either theory...
Is to give up one or more strong beliefs about The Nature of the World.
So what will you do?
Seemingly unfinished?
More to come.
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