Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-7drxs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-23T23:11:58.884Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Apparent Inconsistency of Moulines' Treatment of Equilibrium Thermodynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

John H. Harris
John H. Harris*
Affiliation:
University of Otago
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

One of the main advantages that has been claimed for the Sneedian “structuralist” approach is that with it one can actually represent real scientific theories. (I consider a “structuralist” approach to be one in which the objects of study are structures in the modeltheoretic sense, with at least some such structures thought of as representing physical situations or processes.) Using just Suppes’ structuralist approach, one can already give a reasonable representation of many features of scientific theories. Examples of such are the representations of classical particle mechanics (CPM) in McKinsey, Sugar & Suppes (1953), relativistic particle mechanics in Rubin & Suppes (1954), and rigid body mechanics in Adams (1959). Then with Sneed's (1971) modifications of Suppes’ approach, in particular with Sneed's introduction of the notion of a constraint between structures, the representational strength of a structuralist approach seems to increase dramatically.

Type
Part VII. Tachyons, Temporal Becoming, and Thermodynamics
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1982 , Issue 1: Volume One: Contributed Papers 1982 , 1982 , pp. 304 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adams, E.W. (1959). “The Foundations of Rigid Body Mechanics and the Derivation of its Laws from Those of Particle Mechanics.” In The Axiomatic Method. Edited by Henkin, L., et al. Amsterdam: North Holland. Pages 250–265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, J.H. (1978). “A Semantical Alternative to the Sneed-Stegmüller-Kuhn Conception of Scientific Theories.” In The Logic and Epistemology of Scientific Change (Acta Philosophica Fennica 30.) Edited by Niiniluoto, I. and Tuomela, R.. Amsterdam: North Holland. Pages 184–204.Google Scholar
Harris, J.H. (1983). “Existential Claims in Physical Theories.” Forthcoming in Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science.Google Scholar
Kuhn, T.S. (1976). “Theory-Change as Structure Change: Comments on the Sneed Formalism.” Erkenntnis 10: 179–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McKinsey, J.C.C., Sugar, A.C., and Suppes, P. (1953). “Axiomatic Foundations of Classical Particle Mechanics.” Journal of Rational Mechanics and Analysis 2: 253–272.Google Scholar
Moulines, C.U. (1975). “A Logical Reconstruction of Simple Equilibrium Thermodynamics.” Erkenntnis 9: 101–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Niiniluoto, I. (1979). “The Growth of Theories: Comments on the Structuralist Approach.” In Proceedings of the Second International Congress for History and Philosophy of Science. Edited by Agassi, E. and Hintikka, J.. Dordrecht: Reidel. Pages 3–46.Google Scholar
Rubin, H. and Suppes, P. (1954). “Transformations of Systems of Relativistic Particle Mechanics.” Pacific Journal of Mathematics 4: 563–601.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sneed, J. (1971). The Logical Structure of Mathematical Physics. Dordrecht: Reidel.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stegmüller, W. (1979). The Structuralist View of Theories. Berlin: Springer-Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar