Article ID: CBB129873379

Fresnel's Laws, Ceteris Paribus (2017)

unapi

This article is about structural realism, historical continuity, laws of nature, and ceteris paribus clauses. Fresnel's Laws of optics support Structural Realism because they are a scientific structure that has survived theory change. However, the history of Fresnel's Laws which has been depicted in debates over realism since the 1980s is badly distorted. Specifically, claims that J. C. Maxwell or his followers believed in an ontologically-subsistent electromagnetic field, and gave up the aether, before Einstein's annus mirabilis in 1905 are indefensible. Related claims that Maxwell himself did not believe in a luminiferous aether are also indefensible. This paper corrects the record. In order to trace Fresnel's Laws across significant ontological changes, they must be followed past Einstein into modern physics and nonlinear optics. I develop the philosophical implications of a more accurate history, and analyze Fresnel's Laws' historical trajectory in terms of dynamic ceteris paribus clauses. Structuralists have not embraced ceteris paribus laws, but they continue to point to Fresnel's Laws to resist anti-realist arguments from theory change. Fresnel's Laws fit the standard definition of a ceteris paribus law as a law applicable only in particular circumstances. Realists who appeal to the historical continuity of Fresnel's Laws to combat anti-realists must incorporate ceteris paribus laws into their metaphysics.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB129873379/

Similar Citations

Article Saldaña, Juan José; (1983)
La introduccion de la optica ondulatoria: La explicacion Fresneliana de la difraccion (/isis/citation/CBB000000712/)

Article Mayrargue, Arnaud; (1990)
Fresnel et l'éther optique (/isis/citation/CBB000052732/)

Article Buchwald, Jed Z.; (1980)
Optics and the theory of the punctiform ether (/isis/citation/CBB000004464/)

Article Chen, Xiang; (2005)
Transforming Temporal Knowledge: Conceptual Change between Event Concepts (/isis/citation/CBB000640491/)

Article Magalhães, Gildo; (2006)
Remarks on a New Autograph Letter from Augustin Fresnel: Light Aberration and Wave Theory (/isis/citation/CBB000651690/)

Article Ganci, S.; (1992)
Le teorie della diffrazione di T. Young e di A. Fresnel (/isis/citation/CBB000049155/)

Chapter Chappert, André; (1978)
Augustin Fresnel et la propagation de la lumière (/isis/citation/CBB000026811/)

Article Levitt, Theresa; (2000)
Editing out caloric: Fresnel, Arago and the meaning of light (/isis/citation/CBB000110671/)

Article Buchwald, J.Z.; (1983)
Fresnel and diffraction theory (/isis/citation/CBB000038347/)

Article Tremblay, Frederic; (2013)
Nicolai Hartmann and the Metaphysical Foundation of Phylogenetic Systematics (/isis/citation/CBB001451766/)

Article Matthew J. Brown; (2016)
The Abundant World: Paul Feyerabend's Metaphysics of Science (/isis/citation/CBB255917734/)

Article D'Agostino, S.; (1986)
Maxwell's dimensional approach to the velocity of light (/isis/citation/CBB000047196/)

Article Hyder, David Jalal; (2001)
Physiological Optics and Physical Geometry (/isis/citation/CBB000102561/)

Chapter Harman, Peter M.; (1995)
Through the looking-glass, and what Maxwell found there (/isis/citation/CBB000038800/)

Article Wiederkehr, Karl Heinrich; (1994)
Wilhelm Weber und Maxwells elektromagnetische Lichttheorie (/isis/citation/CBB000033737/)

Authors & Contributors
Worrall, John
Buchwald, Jed Z.
Tremblay, Frederic
Wiederkehr, Karl Heinrich
Saldaña, Juan José
Mayrargue, Arnaud
Concepts
Optics
Metaphysics
Philosophy of science
Electromagnetic waves; radiation
Physics
Realism
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
Early modern
21st century
Places
Germany
France
British Isles
Great Britain
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment