Richard Swinburne - Which Laws of Nature are Fundamental?

Why is there a world that works so well? How does the cosmos generate diversity and opportunity? A major reason is innumerable regularities, which we call laws of nature, make things happen. But which of these laws are 'fundamental' in the sense that they are the most basic? We search for the deep building blocks of the world.



Richard Swinburne is a Fellow of the British Academy. He is Emeritus Nolloth Professor of the Philosophy of the Christian Religion at the University of Oxford.


Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[randibeal]

I really enjoy listening to Mr swineburns explanations! 💜💜💜

[thelionsam]

Swinburn gives some extreme introvert signals so I really appreciate him doing these interviews!

[evanjameson]

A bright and articualte Man--Swinburne is the best!

[B.S...]

_"So one should analyze laws of nature in terms of the regularities of things causing effects and not in the regularities of the patterns of events."_
I agree in the sense that laws are justified by events occurring from the bottom up and not determined by top down patterns.

[Domtg]

The question is kinda weird. I'm not sure what Kuhn has expected. Every law of nature is fundamental in the existence of the universe we know.

[mehdibaghbadran]

The nature’s are so bright and simple, and we’re all part of the nature’s, and if we do something wrong, likes burning bushes, poisoning the waters, creating war’s, etc….
We are harming ourselves, and when the situation of living on earth 🌍 gets worse so we’re destroying ourselves, and also damaging our nature’s, but the different between us and nature is that the nature has got capability to recover itself, when something unusual happens, and nature’s will start to do it’s duty’s, when we as a humans destroyed our existence and nature’s restarting to healing and then, creating from the beginning!

[mehdibaghbadran]

Dear sir, if we are serious to find the explanation, about the things which is hard to understand, what we’ll need is to focus onto the subjects !

[eksffa]

NTS avg/u

Causality problems in this explanations analyzing single events instead of the causal chain. One is not moving his hand out of nothing, needs further considerations before assuming it’s not guided by a law, needs confirming free will etc

[SRAVALM]

Explaining God is a problem because: to explain something is to define or by way of defining, and to define is done by discriminating thus separating and dividing because of contrast; difference. God is not 'other than' and cannot be circumscribed to a definition thus no explanation; God in a proper since is the very 'Definition' of.. the very definition of or in the Universe. If laws are descriptions God is the definition of -- the very substance, essence, being; majesty. God is One, and is not the place of division where defining is circumscribed.

[thekingscotustheredstar]

I love it this episode on point let him speak the law of nature and the faith of God and

[jamesruscheinski]

Is there possibility that physical laws of nature are not fundamental?

[MrSanford]

The fact is cause and effect are human imposition of distinction. There is no actual
qualitative separation between one event and another in a universe if it’s not intelligent designed, just empty and devoid of intent. And if the universe is intelligently designed, Then any event is possible depending on what metaphysical state of reality we are in, And the law would be different in that state

[credterfe]

The initial state of the universe was set at a certain value as described in a 3-D model, containing innumerable number of galaxies each with distinct specs so that at the grand moment that the virtual universe gets real you already have a lively cosmos with galaxies and planetary orbits set according to the velocities given them individually at time zero. God has set the natures of various things such as inertia (mass), tendency to gravitate according the equation, electromagnetic phenomena etc. These are all fundamental. Then follows all the emergent properties which are governed by respective laws laws of chemistry, laws of cell biology.

[godthecreatoryhvh]

Hi, Hello Mr sideburns. I like listening you big time. As, usual you know what you are talking about. Actually Dr Lawrence probably like to big time. The only thing you got Rong about me are all those qualities you give me. Actually as I cam not long but quite long time, I know as I come before I got touch by solitude, as the pain about some things very deep inside or outside my mind or gut this is very true facts about all of you to what I am talking about. Many of people who are not Zombie but close can feel it but on a Graff as a wave the pain I talking about they feel it as (1, -1) me the same pain ( 1000^10^100^1000, - 1000^10^100^1000) on the same scale and for those who are awake it depends but some people go quite high too most of them are diagnosed bipolar, and so on. I base my scale on the red book about s.freud the father psychanalyse some things like that. Actually about conscience Freud, Jung together are by themselves did good work about conscience but they don't finish because life on earth end right. IT end till your ion get out of the earth because some volcano are earthquakes propulse that electricity who get ground as the electricity into your body do to when someone died is electricity get ground to. And big volcano propulse all that I mean ion. Where in are real house into are Cosmos. Anyway I am little all over the place it's better I say goodbye to all of you 😎

[alastairbishop]

I've really enjoyed most of your videos, but this one was really disappointing. In particular, the claim that human motor control is not governed by laws of physics is just weird. Even without understanding every detail of how the brain works, there is ample evidence that every link in the chain between the brain and the muscles absolutely does follow these laws.

[SpudderR]

H’mmmm!? 7:40 You state “I or Me Causing moving my hand”!? When relating fundamental comparisons to fundamental explanations....I or Me is not a “Fundamental” cause! Because, before “I or Me” decided to move the ‘Said’ my hand, the decision was already made before The Me or I was Aware Of The proceedings, in already an active past fundamental state. So it would appear there is a pre-Fundamental, in control of the Mechanised human body/brain. Is there a pre-fundamental which we are unable to Physically comprehend? Think So!?

[moosestubbings]

Why do we as human beings try to change the laws of nature?
(Deforestation, pollution, carbon emissions, Environmental Manipulation, etc.)
The children of God feed on the children of earth

[stevecoley]

Metaphysics 101
Magic (love) is essential for life.

Transforming frowns into smiles is smarter than turning lead into gold. And transforming heaven (peace) into hell (war) is more ignorant (dead) than turning gold into lead.

Question. Why are the evangelical counting corpses using the bible as a springboard to perform somersaults to do the exact opposite of "love their neighbors" and "treat others like they want to be treated"?

Answer. This is sick. Because these simple concepts are too far out there to grasp for vampires (greed) and zombies.

[maxwellsimoes]

Absurd mistake thought lLaw Nature in this way ar saem GOD laws. Lee of nature are in human conscieness though Law nature is GOD minds raise two questions : He Not demostrated how figuret out GOD Law Nature. He phischs fundamental Law not explains GOD atributes. Secound he not knows GOD in essencial in phich fundamental model. He minds on Law Nature it worthless Science means what he are Said is only speculations. If he reads ethic in Science certain he focus on phich honestly.

[PaulHoward]

They don't know the real laws of nature, which the Vedas provide, consistently explaining all motion, including how our choices select our future bodily states.

Read "What is prāṇa?", "How guṇa and karma create the body, " and "What are manifest and unmanifest states of matter?" at Shabda Blog.