There Is No Distinctively Semantic Circularity Objection to Humean Laws

David Mark Kovacs

doi:10.1017/can.2021.13

Abstract

AbstractHumeans identify the laws of nature with universal generalizations that systematize rather than govern the particular matters of fact. Humeanism is frequently accused of circularity: laws explain their instances, but Humean laws are, in turn, grounded by those instances. Unfortunately, this argument trades on controversial assumptions about grounding and explanation that Humeans routinely reject. However, recently an ostensibly semantic circularity objection has been offered, which seeks to avoid reading such assumptions into the Humean view. This paper argues that the new semantic version tacitly relies on the familiar metaphysical one and, therefore, it ultimately brings nothing new to the table.

Highlights

Humean theories of laws contend that all there is to reality are particular matters of fact and that the laws of nature are universal generalizations that merely summarize these facts
The objection deserves the label ‘metaphysical’ because it assumes that Humean laws are metaphysically explained by their instances and that metaphysical and scientific explanation can be chained to produce an explanation
Other Humeans argue that the laws are not grounded or metaphysically explained by their instances and recommend some alternative way of understanding the slogan that the laws are “nothing over and above” the mosaic.6. In light of these responses, a circularity objection that doesn’t read grounding-theoretic assumptions into the Humean account of laws would be of considerable interest

Summary

Introduction

If a Humean law explains its instance the same explanatory information appears in both the explanans and the explanandum, which makes the explanation circular. Whether Conjunctive Grounding is independently plausible is neither here nor there; what matters is only that if Roski needs to presuppose it his version of the SCO doesn’t give Humeans any reason to change their minds that is independent of the MCO.

Results

Conclusion