Year: 2014
Type: preprint
Abstract: Category theory has become central to certain aspects of theoretical physics. Bain [Synthese, 190:1621--1635 (2013)] has recently argued that this has significance for ontic structural realism. We argue against this claim. In so doing, we uncover two pervasive forms of category-theoretic generalization. We call these `generalization by duality' and `generalization by categorifying physical processes'. We describe in detail how these arise, and explain their significance using detailed examples. We show that their significance is two-fold: the articulation of high-level physical concepts, and the generation of new models.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Lal, Raymond, Teh, Nicholas J.
Institutions: University of Oxford, University of Cambridge
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2950527768