Date of Graduation

8-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Philosophy (MA)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Philosophy

Advisor/Mentor

Ward, Barry M.

Committee Member

Funkhouser, Eric M.

Second Committee Member

Senor, Thomas D.

Keywords

Humeanism; Metaphysics; Natural laws; Philosophy; Philosophy of science; Pragmatic Humeanism

Abstract

Humeanism about laws is a metaphysical doctrine that claims that the complete scope of the world is comprised of the mosaic—a vast collection of particular, localized facts about the world, and everything else supervenes on this arrangement of facts. Reductionism about laws, the claim that laws of nature reduce to, and thereby supervene on, the Humean mosaic, follows from this view. The first part of the thesis explores Humeanism about laws and the evolving landscape of pragmatic approaches within this domain. Building upon the insights gained from this analysis, the second part of the thesis proposes a novel response to the problem of Humean circularity. By combining a comprehensive overview of Humeanism about laws with a novel response to the problem of circularity, this thesis deepens our understanding of Humeanism, its strengths, weaknesses, and the potential solutions to its problems. Moreover, the proposed response presented in this thesis not only addresses a significant stalemate issue between Humeans and non-Humeans but also offers new avenues for further exploration.

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