Undermining undermined: Why Humean supervenience never needed to be debugged (Even if it's a necessary truth)

Authors
Citation
Jt. Roberts, Undermining undermined: Why Humean supervenience never needed to be debugged (Even if it's a necessary truth), PHILOS SCI, 68(3), 2001, pp. S98-S108
Citations number
8
Categorie Soggetti
Philosiphy
Journal title
PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
ISSN journal
00318248 → ACNP
Volume
68
Issue
3
Year of publication
2001
Supplement
S
Pages
S98 - S108
Database
ISI
SICI code
0031-8248(200109)68:3<S98:UUWHSN>2.0.ZU;2-X
Abstract
The existence of "undermining futures" appears to show that a contradiction can be deduced from the conjunction of Humean supervenience (HS) about cha nce and the Principal Principle. A number of strategies for rescuing HS fro m this problem have been proposed recently. In this paper, a novel way of d efending HS from the threat is presented, and it is argued that this defens e has advantages not shared by others. In particular, it requires no revisi onism about chance, and it is equally available to defenders of HS who hold HS to be necessary and those who hold it to be contingent.