Definition
Abstractions are real when they have explanatory power and causal consequences. They are not physical objects in the ordinary sense, but they describe patterns, laws, computations, and relationships that constrain what can happen in the physical world.
Why It Matters
If you treat abstractions (like primality, laws, or culture) as mere “convenient fictions,” you lose the ability to explain why the physical world behaves as it does. Recognizing the reality of abstractions allows for a more rigorous understanding of emergent phenomena that cant be reduced to simple physics.
Core Concepts
- Reality by explanation: An entity earns its status as “real” if it is referred to by our best explanations. If an explanation fails without referencing an abstraction, that abstraction must be regarded as existing.
- Causal relevance: Abstractions like computer programs, mathematical primality, or moral values affect the physical world through the systems that instantiate them (e.g., a domino computer’s output).
- Against reductionism: The belief that only the lowest-level physical phenomena (atoms, particles) are real is a mistake. High-level, emergent phenomena can be just as fundamental.
- Quasi-autonomy: Emergent levels (like the liquidity of water or the rules of chess) can be explained and understood in their own terms without reference to underlying atomic physics.