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Physical Quantities: Mereology and D...

Perry, Zee R.,

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Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics /

Record Type:	Electronic resources : Monograph/item
Title/Author:	Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics // Zee R Perry.
Author:	Perry, Zee R.,
Description:	1 electronic resource (290 pages)
Notes:	Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 78-06, Section: A.
Contained By:	Dissertations Abstracts International78-06A.
Subject:	Metaphysics. -
Online resource:	https://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=10192350
ISBN:	9781369332735

Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics /
Perry, Zee R.,

Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics /Zee R Perry. - 1 electronic resource (290 pages)

Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 78-06, Section: A.

Physical quantities-things like length, mass, charge, and volume- are commonly represented in science and everyday practice with mathematical entities, like numbers and vectors. We explain why I cannot reach the iced coffee 3ft away from me on the table by citing the fact that my arm is 2.5ft long and 2.5 < 3. However, we don't think that the '<' relation between the numbers 2.5 and 3 is directly explaining anything about my arm and the coffee. Rather, this mathematical fact explains indirectly by representing some directly explanatory physical feature of the system itself. A satisfactory account of the physical world should give us an understanding of the underlying physical structure in virtue of which these mathematical representations are successful. In my dissertation, Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics, I defend a two-pronged account of quantity that analyzes this quantitative structure in terms of how that quantity traffics with the rest of the physical world. In the first half (Chapters 1 and 2), I argue that, for some quantities, this structure is grounded in their relationship to parthood. Specifically, Chapter 1 introduces the notion of a properly extensive quantity, like length, volume, etc, and distinguishes them from quantities which are extensive but not properly so, like mass, charge, etc. Chapter 2 develops a theory of the properly extensive quantities which defines their quantitative structure in terms of mereology and shared intrinsic properties. This account captures the intuition that quantitative relations, like "longer than" or "pi-times the volume of", are intrinsic to the physical systems they're called upon to explain. The second half (Chapters 3 and 4) concerns the relation between physical quantities and dynamical laws. Chapter 3 makes the case that we cannot apply the same mereological treatment to "merely additive" quantities (which are "extensive" but not properly so), like mass or charge, because their quantitative structure is not reflected in the parthood structure of their instances. That is, two massive point particles may stand in "the-square-root-of-5 times as massive as", or "twice as massive as" or any of countless other mass ratio relations, despite both having no proper parts. Chapter 4 argues that all other quantities (i.e. those which are not properly extensive) have their structure only derivatively, in virtue of their dynamical connections to properly extensive quantities according to the physical laws.

English

ISBN: 9781369332735Subjects--Topical Terms:

517082
Metaphysics.
Subjects--Index Terms:

Additivity

Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics /
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300 $a 1 electronic resource (290 pages)
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500 $a Source: Dissertations Abstracts International, Volume: 78-06, Section: A.
500 $a Publisher info.: Dissertation/Thesis.
500 $a Advisors: Maudlin, Tim Committee members: Dasgupta, Shamik; Dorr, Cian; Field, Hartry.
502 $b Ph.D. $c New York University $d 2016.
520 $a Physical quantities-things like length, mass, charge, and volume- are commonly represented in science and everyday practice with mathematical entities, like numbers and vectors. We explain why I cannot reach the iced coffee 3ft away from me on the table by citing the fact that my arm is 2.5ft long and 2.5 < 3. However, we don't think that the '<' relation between the numbers 2.5 and 3 is directly explaining anything about my arm and the coffee. Rather, this mathematical fact explains indirectly by representing some directly explanatory physical feature of the system itself. A satisfactory account of the physical world should give us an understanding of the underlying physical structure in virtue of which these mathematical representations are successful. In my dissertation, Physical Quantities: Mereology and Dynamics, I defend a two-pronged account of quantity that analyzes this quantitative structure in terms of how that quantity traffics with the rest of the physical world. In the first half (Chapters 1 and 2), I argue that, for some quantities, this structure is grounded in their relationship to parthood. Specifically, Chapter 1 introduces the notion of a properly extensive quantity, like length, volume, etc, and distinguishes them from quantities which are extensive but not properly so, like mass, charge, etc. Chapter 2 develops a theory of the properly extensive quantities which defines their quantitative structure in terms of mereology and shared intrinsic properties. This account captures the intuition that quantitative relations, like "longer than" or "pi-times the volume of", are intrinsic to the physical systems they're called upon to explain. The second half (Chapters 3 and 4) concerns the relation between physical quantities and dynamical laws. Chapter 3 makes the case that we cannot apply the same mereological treatment to "merely additive" quantities (which are "extensive" but not properly so), like mass or charge, because their quantitative structure is not reflected in the parthood structure of their instances. That is, two massive point particles may stand in "the-square-root-of-5 times as massive as", or "twice as massive as" or any of countless other mass ratio relations, despite both having no proper parts. Chapter 4 argues that all other quantities (i.e. those which are not properly extensive) have their structure only derivatively, in virtue of their dynamical connections to properly extensive quantities according to the physical laws.
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650 4 $a Metaphysics. $3 517082
650 4 $a Philosophy of science. $2 bicssc $3 2079849
653 $a Additivity
653 $a Extension
653 $a Magnitudes
653 $a Mass
653 $a Parthood
653 $a Physical quantities
690 $a 0396
690 $a 0402
710 2 $a New York University. $b Philosophy. $e degree granting institution. $3 3765615
720 1 $a Maudlin, Tim $e degree supervisor.
773 0 $t Dissertations Abstracts International $g 78-06A.
790 $a 0146
791 $a Ph.D.
792 $a 2016
856 4 0 $u https://pqdd.sinica.edu.tw/twdaoapp/servlet/advanced?query=10192350