The problem of nomological harmony.

Our universe features a harmonious match between laws and states: applying its laws to its states generates other states. This is a striking fact. Matters might have been otherwise. The universe might have been stillborn in a state unengaged by its laws. The problem of nomological harmony is that of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nous (0029-4624) Vol. 58; no. 2; pp. 482 - 505
Main Authors: Cutter, Brian, Saad, Bradford
Format: Article
Published: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2024
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Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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Summary:Our universe features a harmonious match between laws and states: applying its laws to its states generates other states. This is a striking fact. Matters might have been otherwise. The universe might have been stillborn in a state unengaged by its laws. The problem of nomological harmony is that of explaining the noted striking fact. After introducing and developing this problem, we canvass candidate solutions and identify some of their virtues and vices. Candidate solutions invoke the likes of a designer, axiarchic meta‐laws, multiverses, essential causal powers, and Humean laws.