Space, time and parsimony

Noûs 57 (4):763-783 (2022)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

This paper argues that all of the standard theories about the divisions of space and time can benefit from, and may need to rely on, parsimony considerations. More specifically, whether spacetime is discrete, gunky or pointy, there are wildly unparsimonious rivals to standard accounts that need to be resisted by proponents of those accounts, and only parsimony considerations offer a natural way of doing that resisting. Furthermore, quantitative parsimony considerations appear to be needed in many of these cases.

Other Versions

No versions found

Similar books and articles

Parsimony for Empty Space.Roy Sorensen - 2014 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 92 (2):215-230.
T-Gunk and Exact Occupation.Daniel Giberman - 2012 - American Philosophical Quarterly 49 (2):165-174.
When is parsimony a virtue.Michael Huemer - 2009 - Philosophical Quarterly 59 (235):216-236.
Quantitative parsimony.Daniel Nolan - 1997 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48 (3):329-343.
Diagnostic Parsimony.Bengt Autzen - 2022 - Philosophy of Medicine 3 (1).
Quantitative Parsimony: Probably for the Better.Lina Jansson & Jonathan Tallant - 2017 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 68 (3):781–803.
Physicalism and the burden of parsimony.Giacomo Zanotti - 2021 - Synthese 199 (3-4):11109-11132.
Parsimony Arguments in Science and Philosophy—A Test Case for Naturalism P.Elliott Sober - 2009 - Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 83 (2):117 - 155.
Ideological parsimony.Sam Cowling - 2013 - Synthese 190 (17):3889-3908.

Analytics

Added to PP
2022-05-11

Downloads
720 (#33,401)

6 months
127 (#37,722)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Daniel Nolan
University of Notre Dame

Citations of this work

Cosmic Topology, Underdetermination, and Spatial Infinity.Patrick James Ryan - 2024 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 14 (17):1-28.

Add more citations

References found in this work

When is parsimony a virtue.Michael Huemer - 2009 - Philosophical Quarterly 59 (235):216-236.
Quantitative parsimony.Daniel Nolan - 1997 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 48 (3):329-343.

View all 25 references / Add more references