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<p>Recently, there has been a lively debate over whether absolute velocity is measurable in Newtonian mechanics. Middleton and Murgueitio Ramírez (Australas J Philos 99(4): 806–816, 2021)—‘MMR’ henceforth—challenge the orthodox view that absolute velocity is unmeasurable in Newtonian mechanics by pointing out that, under a plausible counterfactual analysis of measurement, absolute velocity is measurable in at least one Newtonian world. MMR’s arguments have been criticized by Jacobs (Australas J Philos 100(1): 202–206, 2022) and Luc (Erkenntnis 89: 3309–3327, 2024), with Murgueitio Ramírez (Philos Compass 19(6), 2024) subsequently responding to both objections. In this paper, I present a novel response to MMR’s original argument that avoids the problems faced by Jacobs’s and Luc’s accounts. I argue that MMR’s reply to another potential objection to their account, which they call ‘the relevance objection’, is unconvincing. Building on a crucial clarification about this objection, I propose a revised counterfactual account of measurement, under which absolute velocity remains to be unmeasurable in Newtonian mechanics.</p>

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Is Absolute Velocity Measurable?

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年11月19日

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  • Qichen Yan

摘要

Recently, there has been a lively debate over whether absolute velocity is measurable in Newtonian mechanics. Middleton and Murgueitio Ramírez (Australas J Philos 99(4): 806–816, 2021)—‘MMR’ henceforth—challenge the orthodox view that absolute velocity is unmeasurable in Newtonian mechanics by pointing out that, under a plausible counterfactual analysis of measurement, absolute velocity is measurable in at least one Newtonian world. MMR’s arguments have been criticized by Jacobs (Australas J Philos 100(1): 202–206, 2022) and Luc (Erkenntnis 89: 3309–3327, 2024), with Murgueitio Ramírez (Philos Compass 19(6), 2024) subsequently responding to both objections. In this paper, I present a novel response to MMR’s original argument that avoids the problems faced by Jacobs’s and Luc’s accounts. I argue that MMR’s reply to another potential objection to their account, which they call ‘the relevance objection’, is unconvincing. Building on a crucial clarification about this objection, I propose a revised counterfactual account of measurement, under which absolute velocity remains to be unmeasurable in Newtonian mechanics.