Good just isn't Good Enough: Humean Chances and Boltzmannian Statistical Physics
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Description
Statistical physicists assume a probability distribution over micro-states to explain thermodynamic behavior. The question of this paper is whether these probabilities are part of a best system and can thus be interpreted as Humean chances. I consider two Boltzmannian accounts of the Second Law, viz.\ a globalist and a localist one. In both cases, the probabilities fail to be chances because they have rivals that are roughly equally good. I conclude with the diagnosis that well-defined micro-probabilities under-estimate the robust character of explanations in statistical physics.
Date of Publication
2014
Publication Type
Book Section
Editor(s)
Calvotti, Maria Carla | |
Dieks, Dennis | |
Gonzalez, W. J. | |
Hartmann, Stephan | |
Uebel, Thomas | |
Weber, Marcel |
Additional Credits
Publisher
Springer
ISBN
978-3-319-04382-1
Access(Rights)
restricted