Discussing the basic categories, and how there is seen to be a connection between them that was previously missed.
Three categories of terms in physics:
- existential terms
- about what exists
- formal terms
- about the structure & static properties of what exists
- dynamical terms
- about what would happen, in new and/or hypothetical conditions
- only by hypothesizing dynamics, can we deduce the future.
Examples of Formal Terms
- shape, number, form, relation, configuration, symmetry
- function, field, oscillation, wave, flow,
- point, length, area, volume, amplitude,
- vector, matrix, operator, Hilbert space, bra, ket,
- ratios, relative frequency, probability, ... DESCRIBED BY MATHEMATICS
Examples of Existential Terms
Examples of Dynamical Terms
DESCRIBED BY LAWS (PHYSICAL or mental)
Dynamical properties say what would happen, even if it does not:
New idea: ‘Dynamic substance’
There is no need to describe 'substance' any more in obscure terms!
All that is needed are propensities that intrinsically endure for finite times.
We identify 'the substance of things' with 'some enduring propensity'.
This summary is taken from a talk I gave in 2000
to my physics department at Surrey University.
A complete set of slides is online here.
I will in later posts argue that the same conclusion applies to mental as well as physical dispositions.