Abstract:
The laws of nature are laws of nature in
virtue of their relationship to a singular entity which I am calling the law-like lump. The
law-like lump is a pattern within the time-evolution of the world, but it also has being in
its own right, even apart from the being which it has in virtue of its relationship to the
time-evolution. The law-like lump is differentiated into individual laws in two major ways.
Firstly, it is differentiated by the equations of fundamental physics. Differentiated in
this way, it yields laws of temporal evolution. They govern the motion of the fields
constituting the time-evolution of the world. Secondly, the law-like lump is differentiated
by individual objects moving around within the time-evolution. Differentiated in this way,
it yields laws which are singular relations between properties. For instance, it yields the
law that all metals are conductive.
