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ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES: AGAINST BEST-SYSTEM THEORIES WITHOUT NATURALNESS
HumanitiesPhilosophers' Imprint

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES: AGAINST BEST-SYSTEM THEORIES WITHOUT NATURALNESS

T. Sider

Research by Theodore Sider (Rutgers University) defends David Lewis’s original best-system theory—including its commitment to perfectly natural properties—and rebuts “lite” best-system alternatives. Sider argues that alleged metaphysical gaps between Lewisian lawhood and scientific practice are misguided and finds package-deal, strength-measure, bridging-law, and relativist substitutes lacking; his conclusion: retain naturalness.... show more
Abstract
The paper defends David Lewis’s original best-system theory of laws, including its reliance on perfectly natural properties, and argues against “lite” best-system alternatives that try to avoid naturalness. Sider contends that worries about a metaphysical gap between Lewisian lawhood and scientific practice are misguided, and that proposed substitutes—such as package-deal accounts, strength measures tied to micro- or macro-distance facts, bridging-law strategies, and relativism—each face serious problems. Conclusion: accept no substitutes; the best best-system theory retains naturalness.
Publisher
Philosophers' Imprint
Published On
Authors
Theodore Sider
Tags
best-system theorylaws of natureperfectly natural propertiesDavid Lewismetaphysical gappackage-deal alternativesrelativism
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