Principle of the uniformity of nature:
A claim that may be offered as a grounding for the INDUCTIVE PRINCIPLE, though it is not always distinguished from the principle itself.
It may be crudely formulated as ‘Nature is uniform’, or ‘The future will resemble the past’, or – in a more refined version like that given under inductive principle – with ‘will be found’ for ‘can be assumed’.
The main problem is to specify the respects in which the resemblance holds, since the future will obviously not resemble the past in all respects, whereas it can be shown that whatever happens (bar perhaps the total annihilation of the universe) the future will resemble the past in some respects (indeed in infinitely many).
Even the more refined versions are not immune to this danger, if the class and the property concerned are left quite unrestricted.
A more hopeful version of the principle may say that mere position in space or time cannot by themselves be relevant to whether some phenomenon occurs or not.
Also see: inductivism
Source:
N Goodman, ‘Seven Strictures on Similarity’, Experience and Theory, L Foster and J W Swanson, eds (1970)
Table of Contents
- 1 Videos
- 2 Related Products
- 2.1 Contingency and Convergence: Toward a Cosmic Biology of Body and Mind (Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology (25))
- 2.2 Sustainable Micro Irrigation Management for Trees and Vines (Research Advances in Sustainable Micro Irrigation Book 3)
- 2.3 Symmetry Discovered: Concepts and Applications in Nature and Science (Dover Books on Mathematics)
- 2.4 The Nature of the Judicial Process
- 2.5 Reading the Mind of God: In Search of the Principle of Universality
- 2.6 Conjuring the Universe: The Origins of the Laws of Nature
- 2.7 The failure of the principle of priority to secure uniformity and stability in botanical nomenclature.
- atomic uniformity principle
- one over many principle
- impossibility of a gambling system principle
- confirmation principle
- plenitude principle
Videos
Contingency and Convergence: Toward a Cosmic Biology of Body and Mind (Vienna Series in Theoretical Biology (25))
- Hardcover Book
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Symmetry Discovered: Concepts and Applications in Nature and Science (Dover Books on Mathematics)
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The Nature of the Judicial Process
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The failure of the principle of priority to secure uniformity and stability in botanical nomenclature.
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- English (Publication Language)
- 01/01/1924 (Publication Date) - Washington, 1924 (Publisher)
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