Physics and Speculative Philosophy

Physics and Speculative Philosophy PDF

Author: Timothy E. Eastman

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2016-02-22

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 311045047X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Through both an historical and philosophical analysis of the concept of possibility, we show how including both potentiality and actuality as part of the real is both compatible with experience and contributes to solving key problems of fundamental process and emergence. The book is organized into four main sections that incorporate our routes to potentiality: (1) potentiality in modern science [history and philosophy; quantum physics and complexity]; (2) Relational Realism [ontological interpretation of quantum physics; philosophy and logic]; (3) Process Physics [ontological interpretation of relativity theory; physics and philosophy]; (4) on speculative philosophy and physics [limitations and approximations; process philosophy]. We conclude that certain fundamental problems in modern physics require complementary analyses of certain philosophical and metaphysical issues, and that such scholarship reveals intrinsic features and limits of determinism, potentiality and emergence that enable, among others, important progress on the quantum theory of measurement problem and new understandings of emergence.

Physics and Speculative Philosophy

Physics and Speculative Philosophy PDF

Author: Timothy E. Eastman

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2016-02-22

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 3110451816

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Through both an historical and philosophical analysis of the concept of possibility, we show how including both potentiality and actuality as part of the real is both compatible with experience and contributes to solving key problems of fundamental process and emergence. The book is organized into four main sections that incorporate our routes to potentiality: (1) potentiality in modern science [history and philosophy; quantum physics and complexity]; (2) Relational Realism [ontological interpretation of quantum physics; philosophy and logic]; (3) Process Physics [ontological interpretation of relativity theory; physics and philosophy]; (4) on speculative philosophy and physics [limitations and approximations; process philosophy]. We conclude that certain fundamental problems in modern physics require complementary analyses of certain philosophical and metaphysical issues, and that such scholarship reveals intrinsic features and limits of determinism, potentiality and emergence that enable, among others, important progress on the quantum theory of measurement problem and new understandings of emergence.

Speculative Truth

Speculative Truth PDF

Author: Russell McCormmach

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 0195160045

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

At once a contribution to a growing body of scholarship on natural philosophy and an analysis of theoretical research, Speculative Truth yields a fascinating view and discourse on the rise of scientific attitudes and ways of knowing - virtually the birth of modern science."--BOOK JACKET.

The Philosophy of Physics

The Philosophy of Physics PDF

Author: Dean Rickles

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2016-08-01

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1509509402

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Does the future exist already? What is space? Are time machines physically possible? What is quantum mechanical reality like? Are there many universes? Is there a ‘true’ geometry of the universe? Why does there appear to be an arrow of time? Do humans play a special role in the world? In this unique introductory book, Dean Rickles guides the reader through these and other core questions that keep philosophers of physics up at night. He discusses the three pillars of modern physics (quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and the theories of relativity), in addition to more cutting-edge themes such as econophysics, quantum gravity, quantum computers, and gauge theories. The book’s approach is based on the idea that philosophy of physics is a kind of ‘interpretation game’ in which we try to map physical theories onto our world. But the rules of this game often lead to a multiplicity of possible victors: rarely do we encounter a simple answer. The Philosophy of Physics offers a highly accessible introduction to the latest developments in this exciting field. Written in a lively style, with many visual examples, it will appeal to beginner-level students in both physics and philosophy.

On Physics and Philosophy

On Physics and Philosophy PDF

Author: Bernard d'Espagnat

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2021-12-07

Total Pages: 518

ISBN-13: 069124023X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Among the great ironies of quantum mechanics is not only that its conceptual foundations seem strange even to the physicists who use it, but that philosophers have largely ignored it. Here, Bernard d'Espagnat argues that quantum physics--by casting doubts on once hallowed concepts such as space, material objects, and causality-demands serious reconsideration of most of traditional philosophy. On Physics and Philosophy is an accessible, mathematics-free reflection on the philosophical meaning of the quantum revolution, by one of the world's leading authorities on the subject. D'Espagnat presents an objective account of the main guiding principles of contemporary physics-in particular, quantum mechanics-followed by a look at just what consequences these should imply for philosophical thinking. The author begins by describing recent discoveries in quantum physics such as nonseparability, and explicating the significance of contemporary developments such as decoherence. Then he proceeds to set various philosophical theories of knowledge--such as materialism, realism, Kantism, and neo-Kantism--against the conceptual problems quantum theory raises. His overall conclusion is that while the physical implications of quantum theory suggest that scientific knowledge will never truly describe mind-independent reality, the notion of such an ultimate reality--one we can never access directly or rationally and which he calls "veiled reality"--remains conceptually necessary nonetheless.

Physics and Philosophy

Physics and Philosophy PDF

Author: H. Margenau

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 440

ISBN-13: 9400998457

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

This book is intended for people interested in physics and its philosophy. for those who regard physics as an essential component of modern culture rather than merely a tool for industry or war. Indeed this volume is addressed to those students, teachers and research workers who enjoy learning, teaching or doing physics, and are in the habit of pausing once in a while to ponder over key physical concepts and hypotheses and to wonder whether received theories are as perfect as textbooks would have us believe and, if not, how they might be improved. Henry Margenau, recently retired from Yale University as Eugene Higgins Professor of Physics and Philosophy, is the most important philosopher of physics of his generation, and indeed one of the most eminent philosophers of science of our century. He introduced and elucidated the notion of the correspondence rule. He claimed and showed, in the heyday of positivism, that physics has metaphysical presuppositions. He was the first to realize that quantum mechanics can do without von Neumann's projection postulat- and that was as far back as 1936. He clarified the physics and the philosophy of Pauli's exclusion principle at a time when it seemed mysterious. He was the first physicist to publish a philosophical paper in a physics journal, which he did as early as 1941. He was also one of the rare scientists who proclaimed the need for a scientific approach to value theory and ethics.

Mentaphysics

Mentaphysics PDF

Author: James Lowry

Publisher:

Published: 2019-08-02

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9781717813022

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

MENTAPHYSICS is an original and systematic work of speculative philosophy. The title itself, although suggestive of the traditional term "metaphysics': indicates a knowledge that does not simply transcend physics but rather unites the mental and physical aspects of spirit. Spirit, which is the ultimate principle in this treatise, is the comprehensive living reality of which mentaphysics is the theoretical exposition. The main body of the text is a detailed elaboration of this principle. As a contemporary work of speculative philosophy MENTAPHYSICS is intended to provide the framework and underlying principles of philosophical inquiry and reflection. At the same time it is a scholarly re-interpretation of the history of philosophy and culture. As such MENTAPHYSICS is both a continuation of and an addition to the speculative traditions of the East and the West. The author, formerly Professor of Philosophy at St. Mary's University, and of Classics and German at Dalhousie University, is currently Research Professor at the Dominican University College in Ottawa. Dr. Lowry's publications on the history and tradition of speculative philosophy include: The LogicalPrinciples of Proclus'"'J:.TOIXEID."f.l'f. 0EOAOfIKH as Systematic Ground of the Cosmos, Psyche and Cosmos, Reason and Religion, and Metaphysic and Dialectic. A specialist in speculative metaphysics Dr. Lowry holds degrees in philosophy, history and literature; as well he holds a CFA designation and is the founder of the Pallas Athena Corporation. For more information on MENTAPHVSICS and on the author visit: Ailouros.ca

From Physics to Politics

From Physics to Politics PDF

Author: Robert Trundle

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-07-05

Total Pages: 233

ISBN-13: 1351518534

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

Mass ideology is unique to modern society and rooted in early modern philosophy. Traditionally, knowledge had been viewed as resting on metaphysics. Rejecting metaphysical truth evoked questions about the source of -truth.- For nineteenth-century ideologists, -truth- comes either from dominating classes in a progressively determined history or from a post-Copernican freedom of the superior man to create it. In From Physics to Politics Robert C. Trundle, Jr. uncovers the relation of modern philosophy to political ideology. And in rooting truth in human nature and Nature by modal reasoning, he resolves the problem of politicized truth. Our concepts of scientific truth, logic, and necessity are essentially connected. Modern philosophy restricts our understanding of necessity to the political dreams and aspirations of Enlightenment intellectuals. As a result, these intellectuals refuse to acknowledge as factual or meaningful whatever is not intelligible within the practical goals of establishing science as a system of enlightened ideas. The effect of these ideas is that in our time metaphysical principles, speculative truths, our understanding of science, and the nature of logic have become subordinated to ideological dreams. Fascism, Nazism, Marxism, political correctness, and moral relativism are not historical aberrations but essential consequences. Trundle's work is groundbreaking and daring, and his underlying thesis demonstrates why scientific truth demands a modal defense. The defense not only integrates science, ethics, and politics, but shows how -truth- may be ascribed to moral and scientific principles in contrast to a modern philosophical tradition. Since this tradition is the origin of political ideology, it has led to an irrational politicization of truth. The book will appeal particularly to those interested in political history, histories of philosophy, the philosophy of sciences, and ethics.

Dare to Know

Dare to Know PDF

Author: James Kennedy

Publisher: National Geographic Books

Published: 2022-06-07

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 1683693167

DOWNLOAD EBOOK →

“A razor-smart sci-fi corporate noir nightmare. Dare to Know is what happens when Willy Loman sees through the Matrix. A heartbreaking, time-bending, galactic mindbender delivered in the mordantly funny clip of a doomed antihero.”—Daniel Kraus, co-author of The Shape of Water Now in paperback, this mind-bending and emotional speculative thriller is set in a world where the exact moment of your death can be predicted—for a price, featuring an excerpt from the upcoming Bride of the Tornado. Our narrator is the most talented salesperson at Dare to Know, an enigmatic company that has developed the technology to predict anyone’s death down to the second. Divorced, estranged from his sons, and broke, he's driven to violate the cardinal rule of the business by forecasting his own death day. The problem: his prediction says he died twenty-three minutes ago. The only person who can confirm its accuracy is Julia, the woman he loved and lost during his rise up the ranks of Dare to Know. As he travels across the country to see her, he’s forced to confront his past, the choices he's made, and the terrifying truth about the company he works for. Wildly ambitious and highly immersive, this thought-provoking thriller explores the destructive power of knowledge and collapses the boundaries between reality, myth, and conspiracy as it races toward its shocking conclusion.