Although physical theories routinely posit absolute quantities, such as absolute position or intrinsic mass, it seems that only comparative quantities such as distance and mass ratio are observable. But even if there are in fact only distances and mass ratios, the success of absolutist theories means that the world looks just as if there are absolute positions and intrinsic masses. If comparativism is nevertheless true, there is a sense in which this is a cosmic conspiracy: the comparative quantities satisfy certain relations that only absolutism can explain. I show that such cosmic conspiracies are a pervasive feature of comparativist theories. The argument is structurally similar to the well-known No Miracles Argument for scientific realism. Just as anti-realism cannot explain the empirical adequacy of our theories in general, so comparativism cannot explain the empirical adequacy of absolutist theories in particular.

中文翻译：

---

比较主义理论还是阴谋论？


尽管物理理论通常会假定绝对量，例如绝对位置或内在质量，但似乎只能观察到比较量，例如距离和质量比。但即使事实上只有距离和质量比，绝对主义理论的成功也意味着世界看起来就像存在绝对位置和内在质量。如果比较主义仍然正确，那么从某种意义上说，这是一个宇宙阴谋：比较量满足只有绝对主义才能解释的某些关系。我表明这种宇宙阴谋是比较主义理论的普遍特征。该论证在结构上类似于著名的科学实在论的“没有奇迹论证”。正如反实在论不能解释我们一般理论的经验充分性一样，比较主义也不能解释具体的绝对主义理论的经验充分性。