844 research outputs found
Pierre Duhemâs philosophy and history of science
LEITE (FĂĄbio Rodrigo) â STOFFEL (Jean-François), Introduction (pp. 3-6). BARRA (Eduardo Salles de O.) â SANTOS (Ricardo Batista dos), Duhemâs analysis of Newtonian method and the logical priority of physics over metaphysics (pp. 7-19). BORDONI (Stefano), The French roots of Duhemâs early historiography and epistemology (pp. 20-35). CHIAPPIN (JosĂ© R. N.) â LARANJEIRAS (CĂĄssio Costa), Duhemâs critical analysis of mechaÂniÂcism and his defense of a formal conception of theoretical phyÂsics (pp. 36-53). GUEGUEN (Marie) â PSILLOS (Stathis), Anti-Âscepticism and epistemic humility in Pierre Duhemâs philosophy of science (pp. 54-72). LISTON (Michael), Duhem : images of science, historical continuity, and the first crisis in physics (pp. 73-84). MAIOCCHI (Roberto), Duhem in pre-war Italian philosÂophy : the reasons of an absence (pp. 85-92). HERNĂNDEZ MĂRQUEZ (VĂctor Manuel), Was Pierre Duhem an «esprit de finesse» ? (pp. 93-107). NEEDHAM (Paul), Was Duhem justified in not distinguishing between physical and chemical atomism ? (pp. 108-111). OLGUIN (Roberto Estrada), «Bon sens» and «noĂ»s» (pp. 112-126). OLIVEIRA (Amelia J.), Duhemâs legacy for the change in the historiography of science : An analysis based on Kuhnâs writings (pp. 127-139). PRĂNCIPE (JoĂŁo), PoincarĂ© and Duhem : Resonances in their first epistemological reflecÂtions (pp. 140-156). MONDRAGON (DamiĂĄn Islas), Book review of «Pierre Duhem : entre fĂsica y metafĂsica» (pp. 157-159). STOFFEL (Jean-François), Book review of P. Duhem : «La thĂ©orie physique : son objet, sa structure» / edit. by S. Roux (pp. 160-162). STOFFEL (Jean-François), Book review of St. Bordoni : «When historiography met epistemology» (pp. 163-165)
String Theory, Loop Quantum Gravity and Eternalism
Eternalism, the view that what we regard locally as being located in the past, the present and the future equally exists, is the best ontological account of temporal existence in line with special and general relativity. However, special and general relativity are not fundamental theories and several research programs aim at finding a more fundamental theory of quantum gravity weaving together all we know from relativistic physics and quantum physics. Interestingly, some of these approaches assert that time is not fundamental. If time is not fundamental, what does it entail for eternalism and the standard debate over existence in time? First, I will argue that the non-fundamentality of time to be found in string theory entails standard eternalism. Second, I will argue that the non-fundamentality of time to be found in loop quantum gravity entails atemporal eternalism, namely a novel position in the spirit of standard eternalism
Analytic Metaphysics versus Naturalized Metaphysics: The Relevance of Applied Ontology
The relevance of analytic metaphysics has come under criticism: Ladyman & Ross, for instance, have suggested do discontinue the field. French & McKenzie have argued in defense of analytic metaphysics that it develops tools that could turn out to be useful for philosophy of physics. In this article, we show first that this heuristic defense of metaphysics can be extended to the scientific field of applied ontology, which uses constructs from analytic metaphysics. Second, we elaborate on a parallel by French & McKenzie between mathematics and metaphysics to show that the whole field of analytic metaphysics, being useful not only for philosophy but also for science, should continue to exist as a largely autonomous field
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Towards 3-D Sound: Spatial Presence and the Space Vacuum
This chapter demonstrates the evolution of relationships between sound design and music in cinematic representations of the interstellar space vacuum. Mera provides a framework for understanding how audiences believe they are physically present in the represented environment and argues that, in the late 2000s, we move towards three-dimensional (3-D) sound, an aesthetic and technical extension of the superfield and the ultrafield as defined by Chion and Kerins, respectively. 3-D Soundâs primary characteristic is the emancipation of music from a fixed sound-stage spatialization, resulting in greater fluidity between sound design and music. This chapter examines the relationship between two types of spatial presence, articulating both the audienceâs suspension of disbelief within a filmâs narrative world and the spatial presence of sound and music within a multichannel cinema environme
An Adynamical, Graphical Approach to Quantum Gravity and Unification
We use graphical field gradients in an adynamical, background independent
fashion to propose a new approach to quantum gravity and unification. Our
proposed reconciliation of general relativity and quantum field theory is based
on a modification of their graphical instantiations, i.e., Regge calculus and
lattice gauge theory, respectively, which we assume are fundamental to their
continuum counterparts. Accordingly, the fundamental structure is a graphical
amalgam of space, time, and sources (in parlance of quantum field theory)
called a "spacetimesource element." These are fundamental elements of space,
time, and sources, not source elements in space and time. The transition
amplitude for a spacetimesource element is computed using a path integral with
discrete graphical action. The action for a spacetimesource element is
constructed from a difference matrix K and source vector J on the graph, as in
lattice gauge theory. K is constructed from graphical field gradients so that
it contains a non-trivial null space and J is then restricted to the row space
of K, so that it is divergence-free and represents a conserved exchange of
energy-momentum. This construct of K and J represents an adynamical global
constraint between sources, the spacetime metric, and the energy-momentum
content of the element, rather than a dynamical law for time-evolved entities.
We use this approach via modified Regge calculus to correct proper distance in
the Einstein-deSitter cosmology model yielding a fit of the Union2 Compilation
supernova data that matches LambdaCDM without having to invoke accelerating
expansion or dark energy. A similar modification to lattice gauge theory
results in an adynamical account of quantum interference.Comment: 47 pages text, 14 figures, revised per recent results, e.g., dark
energy result
Science as It Could Have Been: Discussing the Contingency/Inevitability Problem
This collection of essay explore the different facets of the contingency/necessity debate in the philosophy of scienc
Johanssonian Investigations
In the last decades, Ingvar Johansson has made a formidable contribution to the development of philosophy and particularly that of metaphysics. This volume consists of original papers written by 50 philosophers from all over the world to celebrate his 70th birthday. The papers cover traditional issues in metaphysics and the philosophy of mind, applied ethics, applied metaphysics, the nature of human rights, the philosophy of economics and sports
Realism, reference & perspective
This paper continues the defense of a version of scientific realism, Tautological Scientific Realism (TSR), that rests on the claim that, excluding some areas of fundamental physics about which doubts are entirely justified, many areas of contemporary science cannot be coherently imagined to be false other than via postulation of radically skeptical scenarios, which are not relevant to the realism debate in philosophy of science. In this paper we discuss, specifically, the threats of meaning change and reference failure associated with the Kuhnian tradition, which depend on a descriptivist approach to meaning, and we argue that descriptivism is not the right account of the meaning and reference of theoretical terms. We suggest that an account along the lines of the causal-historical theory of reference provides a more faithful picture of how terms for unobservable theoretical entities and properties come to refer; we argue that this picture works particularly well for TSR. In the last section we discuss how our account raises concerns specifically for perspectival forms of SR
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