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A Philosophical Explanation of the Explanatory Functions of Ergodic Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2022

Paul M. Quay
Paul M. Quay*
Affiliation:
Saint Louis University
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Abstract

The purported failures of ergodic theory (seen in its often proved ineptitude to ground a mechanical explanation of thermodynamics) are shown to arise from misconception of the functions served by scientific explanation. In fact, the predictive failures of ergodic theory are precisely its points of greatest physical utility, where genuinely new knowledge about actual physical systems can be obtained, once the links between explanation and reconstructive estimation are recognized.

Type
Research Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 45 , Issue 1 , March 1978 , pp. 47 - 59
Copyright
Copyright © Philosophy of Science Association 1978

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