Classical Particle Mechanics

Joseph D. Sneed

Chapter Chapter VI in The Logical Structure of Mathematical Physics, 1971, pp 110-153 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Thus far we have considered some simple examples of set-theoretic predicates to illustrate various alternative ways that such a predicate might be used to elucidate the logical structure of a scientific theory. We want now to see how these alternatives fare when we attempt to use them in providing a logical reconstruction of a real theory of mathematical physics. The theory to be considered is classical, or Newtonian, particle mechanics. Our procedure will be roughly this. We will settle upon a likely candidate for a set-theoretic predicate to characterize the mathematical structure of this theory. Then we will try to use this predicate to render the empirical content of this theory in each of the ways discussed in the preceding four chapters. This will serve to illustrate, in a more concrete way, the difficulties with some of these methods, and ultimately to provide at least a sketch of an adequate logical reconstruction of this theory. This sketch, together with the notion of Ramsey eliminability, will provide a means of treating in a systematic and perspicuous way some frequently raised questions about the status of the concepts of mass and force. It will also serve to illuminate questions about the measurability of masses and forces and the status of specific force laws in measuring forces.

Keywords: Mass Function; Logical Structure; Position Function; Force Function; Intended Application (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1971
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-94-010-3066-3_6

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9789401030663

DOI: 10.1007/978-94-010-3066-3_6

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().