Against Magnitude Realism
In recent work, Christopher Peacocke has argued for a kind of realism (or anti-reductionism) about magnitudes such as temperature and spatial distance. Peacocke’s argument is that magnitudes are an ineliminable commitment of scientific and everyday explanations (including high-level explanations),...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
2023-05-01
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| Series: | Crítica |
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| Online Access: | https://critica.filosoficas.unam.mx/index.php/critica/article/view/1407 |
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| Summary: | In recent work, Christopher Peacocke has argued for a kind of realism (or anti-reductionism) about magnitudes such as temperature and spatial distance. Peacocke’s argument is that magnitudes are an ineliminable commitment of scientific and everyday explanations (including high-level explanations), and that they are the natural candidates for semantic values of our ordinary magnitude talk, and for contents of our mental states. I critique these arguments, in particular focusing on whether the realist has a satisfactory account of how high-level magnitude facts are grounded in lower-level facts. I argue that a less realist (i.e., more reductionist approach) is preferable, or at least viable. I also aim to substantially clarify what is at stake in the debate.
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| ISSN: | 0011-1503 1870-4905 |