DOI: 10.2298/theo2603037c ISSN: 0351-2274

Nominalism about reference classes and the error of reification

Milan Cirkovic
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Anthropic reasoning is impossible without the concept of the reference class. However, this basic concept is often unclear and even misunderstood. Here I bring attention to one particular error often committed in the area, namely reification of the reference class. While the reference class is a theoretically crucial concept, it corresponds to little in reality. On the contrary, a nominalist approach to reference classes promises the best - or at least most palatable - results. The analogy with the treatment of potentials in classical field theory could be instructive in both similarities and dissimilarities.

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