Can Laws Exist Without Instances? | Michael Tooley

Can a law of nature exist even if nothing ever falls under it? Michael Tooley argues that causation may require temporally asymmetric laws, explores how those laws relate to the nature of time, and defends the possibility that some governing laws could exist even when they are never instantiated. 0:00 Laws as Relations Between Universals 4:10 Probabilistic Laws and Causation 7:12 Temporal Asymmetry and Causal Skepticism 15:29 Causation and the Nature of Time 22:27 Governing Laws and Reductionism 27:02 The Case for Uninstantiated Laws Michael Tooley is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. He received a Boulder Faculty Assembly Excellence in Research Award in 1998 for his book Time, Tense, and Causation, and is the author of the new book Causation: A Defense of a Non-Reductionist Approach (Oxford, 2026). More from Michael Tooley on Closer To Truth: Closer To Truth: The Podcast:    • Closer To Truth: The Podcast   What Things Really Exist? - CTT Interview Series:    • What Things Really Exist? - CTT Interview ...   Closer To Truth contributors: https://closertotruth.com/contributor... Subscribe to Closer To Truth:    / @closertotruthtv   Join the Community: Membership (5,000+ videos): https://closertotruth.com/register/ Audio Podcast: https://closertotruth.podbean.com Support the Show: https://closertotruth.com/donate/ Official Merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/closert... Follow Us: Facebook:   / closertotruthtv   Instagram:   / closertotruth   X: https://x.com/CloserToTruth Closer To Truth, created and hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn, presents the world's greatest thinkers exploring humanity's deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence and sentience. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers. #CloserToTruth #Cosmos #MichaelTooley #LawsOfNature #PhilosophyOfTime