S/P/89. What are laws of nature and do they have any relevance in a modern epistemological framework in the philosophy of science?

This essay examines laws of nature and whether they have any role to play in modern science. So ingrained is this idea that the world around us is modelled upon these laws, it is all too easy to forget what is meant by them, if indeed they even exist in any genuine sense. Are they simply the equations we learn from textbooks, or inescapable universal truths? Many have argued that laws are something beyond even this. The essay discusses these suggestions, but endorses Van Fraassen’s argument, which suggests that in our current metaphysical framework there is little to suggest laws can play a relevant role, if indeed they exist at all.