> On Aug 12, 2015, at 8:15 PM, Edwina Taborsky <tabor...@primus.ca> wrote: > > Ben - I agree. From a quick reading, constructor theory isn't offering a new > analytic frame, for the notion of general laws (Thirdness) operating as > causal of individual instances (Secondness) - is basic Peircean analysis. > Furthermore, the notion of the evolutionary capacity of these general laws - > i.e., to evolve/change as laws, is also basic Peirce.
Edwina, aren’t most laws developed more or less inductively? The initial appeal to best explanation might be adductive but it seems the generals are largely arrived at inductively. (This may not be true in more social sciences - but then constructor theory seems most applicable in the hard sciences) Now certainly the conclusions are the same (claims about generals or thirdness). It’s also true that evolving laws are hardly new. Physics has accepted them for much of the 20th century in cosmology and of course evolution was broadly accepted early in Peirce’s career. I think Peirce’s taking this as extremely broad and applying to basic systems was fairly novel for the 19th century. In that constructor theory pushes that way of thinking in terms of what is fixed (habitual) within systems versus what is more open one might discount it as something Peirce already did by the 1870’s. However in terms of formalized thinking in physics and chemistry, it does seem this is important. Perhaps it is because these ways of thinking are old hat to us Peirceans that we miss how transformative they *might* be within science broadly practiced. To put simply, a lot of the basic ideas of Peirce are quite alien within science. It would be nice to see that shift. But such a shift requires practical benefits in terms of how scientists conduct their daily activities. Whether constructor theory fits that I can’t say for sure. As I said I have only superficial knowledge of it. However to my admittedly naive eyes, it seems like a potentially favorable shift towards a more Peircean direction of thought.
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