The simplicity of physical laws

2025/01/17 by Eddy Keming Chen · 1 voice · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Physics and Astronomy · #Computer science #Epistemology #Law #Philosophy #Philosophy and History of Science #Political science #Quantum Mechanics and Applications #Simplicity

paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/nous.12542

published in Noûs 59(4), 957-987 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2025/01/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21

Abstract

Abstract Physical laws are strikingly simple, yet there is no a priori reason for them to be so. I propose that nomic realists—Humeans and non‐Humeans—should recognize simplicity as a fundamental epistemic guide for discovering and evaluating candidate physical laws. This proposal helps resolve several longstanding problems of nomic realism and simplicity. A key consequence is that the presumed epistemic advantage of Humeanism over non‐Humeanism dissolves, undermining a prominent epistemological argument for Humeanism. Moreover, simplicity is shown to be more connected to lawhood than to mere truth.

Citations

• How to Tell When Simpler, More Unified, or LessAd HocTheories will Provide More Accurate Predictions
• New work for a theory of universals
• Rethinking Superdeterminism
• I.—On the Notion of Cause
• Strong Determinism
• The physicists philosophy of physics
• Quantum Mechanics in a Time-Asymmetric Universe: On the Nature of the Initial Quantum State
• Theoretical Virtues: Do Scientists Think What Philosophers Think They Ought to Think?

Cited by

• Benign interpolation and Occam's razor

Discussions

• Thrilled to share that my paper, "The Simplicity of Physical Laws," has been officially published in Noûs and is available open access. Exploring simplicity proved to be anything but simple! doi.org/1 [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

Related

• Laws of Physics
• Laws in Physics
• Modalist Empiricism and Physical Laws
• Nomic realism, simplicity, and the simplicity bubble effect
• Quantum Humeanism,or: physicalism without properties