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The Nature of a Constant of Nature: The Case of G

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 December 2022

Caspar Jacobs Open the ORCID record for Caspar Jacobs [Opens in a new window]
Caspar Jacobs*
Affiliation:
Merton College, University of Oxford, Merton Street, Oxford OX1 4JD, United Kingdom
*
Email: caspar.jacobs@merton.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

Physics presents us with a symphony of natural constants: $G$, ℏ, $c$, and so forth. Up to this point, constants have received comparatively little philosophical attention. In this article, I provide an account of dimensionful constants, in particular the gravitational constant. I propose that they represent interquantity structure in the form of relations between quantities with different dimensions. I use this account of $G$ to settle a debate over whether mass scalings are symmetries of Newtonian gravitation. I argue that they are not, but only if we interpret mass anti-quidditistically. This is analogous to anti-haecceitism in the presence of spacetime symmetries.

Type
Article
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 90 , Issue 4 , October 2023 , pp. 797 - 816
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Philosophy of Science Association

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