Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-gb8f7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:32:13.931Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

La structure du temps est-elle indécidable? Sous-détermination et structure du temps chez Newton-Smith

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 January 2015

VINCENT ARDOUREL
VINCENT ARDOUREL*
Affiliation:
Université Paris IV — Sorbonne
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In his book, The Structure of Time, William H. Newton-Smith claims that we cannot decide whether the structure of time is continuous or merely dense. I discuss here the extent to which he is correct. I argue that he fails to provide strong enough arguments to defend his claim, but I then suggest how he might overcome this issue. I also argue that we must reconsider the consequences that he draws from his “undecidability result”.

Dans La structure du temps, William H. Newton-Smith avance la thèse selon laquelle il est impossible de décider si la structure du temps est continue ou simplement dense. L’objectif de cet article est d’examiner dans quelle mesure la thèse de Newton-Smith est justifiée. D’un côté, je soutiens que l’argumentation qu’il propose est insuffisamment convaincante. D’un autre côté, je montre comment pallier cette critique et, dans ce nouveau contexte, je propose une révision des conséquences de sa thèse de l’indécidabilité.

Type
Articles
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 53 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 623 - 649
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Références bibliographiques

Ardourel, Vincent et Barberousse, Anouk(à paraître)«The Representation of Time in Discrete Mechanics», dans Bouton, C. et Huneman, P., dir., Time of Nature, Nature of Time. Essays in the Philosophy of Time in Sciences, Dordrecht, Springer.Google Scholar
Belna, Jean-Pierre 1996 La notion de nombre chez Dedekind, Cantor, Frege, Paris, Vrin.Google Scholar
Bergström, Lars 1984«Underdetermination and Realism», Erkenntnis, vol. 21, p. 349–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunge, Mario 1968«Physical Time: The Objective and Relational Theory», Philosophy of Science, vol. 35, no 4, p. 355–388.Google Scholar
Carnap, Rudolph 1997«Empirisme, sémantique et ontologie», dans Signification et nécessité [1956], trad. Rivenc, F. et de Rouilhan, P., Paris, Gallimard, p. 311–335.Google Scholar
Carnap, Rudolph 1973 Les fondements philosophiques de la physique [1966], trad. Luccioni, Jean-Mathieu et Soulez, Antonia, Paris, Armand Colin.Google Scholar
D’Innocenzo, A., Renna, L. et Rotelli, P. 1987«Some Studies in Discrete Mechanics», European Journal of Physics, vol. 8, p. 245–252.Google Scholar
Dummett, Michael 2000«Is Time a Continuum of Instants?», Philosophy, vol. 75, n° 294, p. 497–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feynman, Richard P., Leighton, Robert B. et Sands, Matthew 1977 The Feynman Lectures on Physics: Mainly Mechanics, Radiation, and Heat [1963], Reading (MA), Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Hesse, Mary 1980«The Hunt for Scientific Reason», Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, vol. 2, p. 3–22.Google Scholar
Kibble, Tom W. B. et Berkshire, Frank H. 2009 Classical Mechanics, Londres, Imperial College Press.Google Scholar
Lee, Tsung-Dao 1983«Can Time Be a Discrete Dynamical Variable?», Physics Letters, vol. 122B, nos 3-4, p. 217–220.Google Scholar
Lee, Taeyoung, Leok, Melvin et McClamroch, Harris 2009«Discrete Control Systems», dans Meyer, Robert A., dir., Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science, New York (NY), Springer, p. 2002–2019.Google Scholar
Maddy, Penelope 1997 Naturalism in Mathematics, Oxford, Clarendon Press.Google Scholar
Marsden, Jerrold E. et West, Matthew 2001«Discrete Mechanics and Variational Integrators», Acta Numerica, vol. 10, p. 357–514.Google Scholar
Newton-Smith, William Herbert 1978«The Underdetermination of Theory by Data», Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, vol. 52, p. 71–91.Google Scholar
Newton-Smith, William Herbert 1980 The Structure of Time, Londres, Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Newton-Smith, William Herbert 2000«The Underdetermination of Theory by Data», dans Newton-Smith, W. H., dir., A Companion to the Philosophy of Science, Malden (MA), Blackwell.Google Scholar
Norton, John D.2008«Must Evidence Underdetermine Theory?», dans Carrier, M.et al., dir., The Challenge of the Social and Pressure Practice: Science and Values Revisited, Pittsburgh (PA), Pittsburgh University Press, p. 17–44.Google Scholar
Putnam, Hilary 1996 Philosophie de la logique [1971], trad. Peccatte, P., Combas, l’Éclat.Google Scholar
Quine, Willard Van Orman 1979«Comments on Newton-Smith», Analysis, vol. 39, no 2, p. 66–67.Google Scholar
Russell, Bertrand 1971 La méthode scientifique en philosophie. Notre connaissance du monde extérieur [1926], trad. Devaux, P., Paris, Payot.Google Scholar
Salmon, Wesley C.2001 Zeno’s Paradoxes [1970], Indianapolis (IN), Hackett.Google Scholar
Suppes, Patrick 1999 Introduction to Logic [1957], Mineola (NY), Dover.Google Scholar
Vorms, Marion 2009 «Théories, modes d’emploi», thèse de doctorat, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.Google Scholar