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Who is She?
Nancy Cartwright was born on 24 June 1944. She has been an iconic contributor to philosophical work in science and education. She earned her Ph. D in philosophy at the University of Illinois. Her thesis was focused on the picture in quantum mechanics. She has taught at many schools (instructor and guest speaker), such as the University of Maryland and the London School of Economics. Her philosophical work includes debates on laws of nature and scientific models in natural and social science. -
Laws of Nature
Nancy Cartwright, explains the laws of nature as both factual and descriptive. In her philosophy, she argues that the laws should be viewed as facticity. Facicity will used to prove if laws are factual or describing our reality. She decided to use models as they depict a more adequate representation of reality with useful imagery explanation. -
Example of Laws of Nature
Electricity also describes forces between two bodies. This force is defined by the variance of their charges. When bodies of masses and charges interact, the total force between them is conducted by a combination of Coulomb’s law and the law of universal gravitation. Individually, these laws do not describe how all bodies behave since the force may depend on both mass and electrical charge. Cartwright states that laws are either explanatory and false, or true but incapable of explanation. -
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References
Professor of philosophy. Nancy Cartwright. (n.d.). Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.profnancycartwright.com/ Reviewed by Mathias Frisch, U. of M. (2018, November 29). Nancy Cartwright's philosophy of Science. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/nancy-cartwright-s-philosophy-of-science/ -
References, Pt. 2
University, D. (2022, August 28). Staff profile. Professor Nancy Cartwright - Durham University. Retrieved February 5, 2023, from https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/nancy-cartwright/