Download or read book Branching Space Times written by Nuel Belnap and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book develops a rigorous theory of indeterminism as a local and modal concept. Its crucial insight is that our world contains events or processes with alternative, really possible outcomes. The theory aims at clarifying what this assumption involves, and it does it in two ways. First, it provides a mathematically rigorous framework for local and modal indeterminism. Second, we support that theory by spelling out the philosophically relevant consequences of this formulation and by showing its fruitful applications in metaphysics. To this end, we offer a formal analysis of modal correlations and of causation, which is applicable in indeterministic and non-local contexts as well. We also propose a rigorous theory of objective single-case probabilities, intended to represent degrees of possibility. In a third step, we link our theory to current physics, investigating how local and modal indeterminism relates to issues in the foundations of physics, in particular, quantum non-locality and spatio-temporal relativity. The book also ventures into the philosophy of time, showing how the theory's resources can be used to explicate the dynamic concept of the past, present, and future based on local indeterminism"--

Download or read book Branching Space times written by Nuel D. Belnap and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 456 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph presents a detailed exposition of the formal theory of Branching Space-Times (BST). The theory presented here by Nuel Belnap, Thomas Müller, and Tomasz Placek describes how real possibilities can be anchored in a spatio-temporal world that is rudimentarily relativistic.

Download or read book Branching Space times written by Nuel Belnap and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monograph presents a detailed exposition of the formal theory of Branching Space-Times (BST). The theory presented here by Nuel Belnap, Thomas Müller, and Tomasz Placek describes how real possibilities can be anchored in a spatio-temporal world that is rudimentarily relativistic.

Download or read book Something Deeply Hidden written by Sean Carroll and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER As you read these words, copies of you are being created. Sean Carroll, theoretical physicist and one of this world’s most celebrated writers on science, rewrites the history of twentieth-century physics. Already hailed as a masterpiece, Something Deeply Hidden shows for the first time that facing up to the essential puzzle of quantum mechanics utterly transforms how we think about space and time. His reconciling of quantum mechanics with Einstein’s theory of relativity changes, well, everything. Most physicists haven’t even recognized the uncomfortable truth: Physics has been in crisis since 1927. Quantum mechanics has always had obvious gaps—which have come to be simply ignored. Science popularizers keep telling us how weird it is, how impossible it is to understand. Academics discourage students from working on the "dead end" of quantum foundations. Putting his professional reputation on the line with this audacious yet entirely reasonable book, Carroll says that the crisis can now come to an end. We just have to accept that there is more than one of us in the universe. There are many, many Sean Carrolls. Many of every one of us. Copies of you are generated thousands of times per second. The Many-Worlds theory of quantum behavior says that every time there is a quantum event, a world splits off with everything in it the same, except in that other world the quantum event didn't happen. Step-by-step in Carroll's uniquely lucid way, he tackles the major objections to this otherworldly revelation until his case is inescapably established. Rarely does a book so fully reorganize how we think about our place in the universe. We are on the threshold of a new understanding—of where we are in the cosmos, and what we are made of.

Download or read book A Collection of Polish Works on Philosophical Problems of Time and Spacetime written by Helena Eilstein and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a collection of some works of Polish philosophers and physicists on philosophical problems of time and spacetime. Without restricting the thematic scope of the papers, the issue conceming objectivity of time flow runs as a uniting thread through most of them. Partly it is discussed directIy, and partly the authors focus on themes which are of paramount importance for one's attitude to that question. In the first six papers the authors deal with their topics against the background of contemporary physics, its theories, its difficulties and discussed conjectures. For the paper of S. Snihur that background is provided by everyday worId-outlook, and the author discusses the problem of existence and character of the future in the light of basic principles of cIassical logic. The paper of A. P61tawski, about the views of the outstanding polish philosopher Roman Ingarden, enriches the thematic scope of the coIIection introducing into it some questions from philosophical anthropology and ethics. JERZY GOLOSZ MOTION, SPACE, TIME*. Abstract. The paper discusses the properties of spacetime we study by analyzing the phenomenon of motion. Of special interest are the spacetime symmetries. the spacetime structures and the ontological status of spacetime. These problems are considered on the grounds of the c1assical theories of motion contained in Newtonian physics, special and general theory of relativity. The controversy between an absolute and a relational conception of motion and its ontological implications are also analyzed.

Download or read book Deontic Logic in Computer Science written by Ron van der Meyden and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2008-07-10 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents the refereed proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Deontic Logic in Computer Science, DEON 2008, held in Luxembourg in July 2008. The 16 revised full papers presented together with 4 invited talks were carefully reviewed and selected for inclusion in the book. The topics addressed are development of formal systems of deontic logic and related areas of logic, and applications. Of particular interest is the interaction between computer systems and their users; the papers focus also on the special topic of logical approaches to deontic notions in computer science in the area of security and trust, encompassing applications in e-commerce as well as traditional areas of computer security.

Download or read book Actions Norms Values written by Georg Meggle and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2011-04-20 with total page 393 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book The Emergent Multiverse written by David Wallace and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-05-24 with total page 547 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Emergent Multiverse presents a striking new account of the 'many worlds' approach to quantum theory. The point of science, it is generally accepted, is to tell us how the world works and what it is like. But quantum theory seems to fail to do this: taken literally as a theory of the world, it seems to make crazy claims: particles are in two places at once; cats are alive and dead at the same time. So physicists and philosophers have often been led either to give up on the idea that quantum theory describes reality, or to modify or augment the theory. The Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics takes the apparent craziness seriously, and asks, 'what would it be like if particles really were in two places at once, if cats really were alive and dead at the same time'? The answer, it turns out, is that if the world were like that—if it were as quantum theory claims—it would be a world that, at the macroscopic level, was constantly branching into copies—hence the more sensationalist name for the Everett interpretation, the 'many worlds theory'. But really, the interpretation is not sensationalist at all: it simply takes quantum theory seriously, literally, as a description of the world. Once dismissed as absurd, it is now accepted by many physicists as the best way to make coherent sense of quantum theory. David Wallace offers a clear and up-to-date survey of work on the Everett interpretation in physics and in philosophy of science, and at the same time provides a self-contained and thoroughly modern account of it—an account which is accessible to readers who have previously studied quantum theory at undergraduate level, and which will shape the future direction of research by leading experts in the field.

Download or read book The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophical Logic written by Leon Horsten and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2014-09-25 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Logical methods are used in all area of philosophy. By introducing and advancing central to topics in the discipline, The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophical Logic emphasizes the crucial role logic plays in understanding philosophical problems. Covering stages in the history of logic and of modern logic, this comprehensive Companion looks ahead to new areas of research and explores issues pertaining to classical logic and its rivals, semantics for parts of natural language, and the application of logic in the theory of rationality. Experts in the field provide a mix of technical chapters that offer excellent encyclopaedias of results in the area and chapters of philosophical discussions that survey a range of philosophical positions. To facilitate further study, this volumes also includes a series of research tools such as a detailed index, an up-to-date list of resources and an annotated bibliography. Balancing technical exposition with philosophical discussion, The Bloomsbury Companion to Philosophical Logic not only provides students and lecturers with the basis of a course in philosophical logic, it offers anyone working in this key area of contemporary philosophy a valuable research resource.

Download or read book A Model of the Universe written by Storrs McCall and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: He shows that this theory can illuminate a wide variety of hitherto unresolved philosophical problems: these include the direction and flow of time, the nature of scientific laws, the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the definition of probability, counterfactual semantics, and the notions of identity, essential properties, deliberation, decision, and free will.

Download or read book Reversing the Arrow of Time written by Bryan W. Roberts and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-12-08 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The arrow of time refers to the curious asymmetry that distinguishes the future from the past. Reversing the Arrow of Time argues that there is an intimate link between the symmetries of 'time itself' and time reversal symmetry in physical theories, which has wide-ranging implications for both physics and its philosophy. This link helps to clarify how we can learn about the symmetries of our world; how to understand the relationship between symmetries and what is real, and how to overcome pervasive illusions about the direction of time. Roberts explains the significance of time reversal in a way that intertwines physics and philosophy, to establish what the arrow of time means and how we can come to know it. This book is both mathematically and philosophically rigorous yet remains accessible to advanced undergraduates in physics and philosophy of physics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Download or read book The Ontology of Spacetime written by and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2006-07-10 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book contains selected papers from the First International Conference on the Ontology of Spacetime. Its fourteen chapters address two main questions: first, what is the current status of the substantivalism/relationalism debate, and second, what about the prospects of presentism and becoming within present-day physics and its philosophy? The overall tenor of the four chapters of the book's first part is that the prospects of spacetime substantivalism are bleak, although different possible positions remain with respect to the ontological status of spacetime. Part II and Part III of the book are devoted to presentism, eternalism, and becoming, from two different perspectives. In the six chapters of Part II it is argued, in different ways, that relativity theory does not have essential consequences for these issues. It certainly is true that the structure of time is different, according to relativity theory, from the one in classical theory. But that does not mean that a decision is forced between presentism and eternalism, or that becoming has proved to be an impossible concept. It may even be asked whether presentism and eternalism really offer different ontological perspectives at all. The writers of the last four chapters, in Part III, disagree. They argue that relativity theory is incompatible with becoming and presentism. Several of them come up with proposals to go beyond relativity, in order to restore the prospects of presentism.· Space and time in present-day physics and philosophy · Introduction from scratch of the debates surrounding time · Broad spectrum of approaches, coherently represented

Download or read book The Instant of Change in Medieval Philosophy and Beyond written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-05-07 with total page 246 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since antiquity, philosophers have investigated how change works. If a thing moves from one state to another, when exactly does it start to be in its new state, and when does it cease to be in its former one? In the late Middle Ages, the "problem of the instant of change” was subject to considerable debate and gave rise to sophisticated theories; it became popular and controversial again in the second half of the twentieth century. The studies collected here constitute the first attempt at tackling the different aspects of an issue that, until now, have been the object of seminal but isolated forays. They do so in through a historical perspective, offering both the medieval and the contemporary viewpoints. Contributors are Damiano Costa, Graziana Ciola, William O. Duba, Simo Knuuttila, Greg Littmann, Can Laurens Löwe, Graham Priest, Magali Roques, Niko Strobach, Edith Dudley Sylla, Cecilia Trifogli and Gustavo Fernández Walker.

Download or read book The Direction of Time written by Hans Reichenbach and published by Courier Corporation. This book was released on 2012-10-10 with total page 303 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Distinguished physicist examines emotive significance of time, time order of mechanics, time direction of thermodynamics and microstatistics, time direction of macrostatistics, time of quantum physics, more. 1971 edition.

Download or read book Cloning Branching Patterns the Major Transitions of Evolution Other writings written by Christopher Portosa Stevens and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sample: "What does language do? Or, what does culture do? Language and culture are non-genetic mechanisms for increasing the number of qualities across individuals, and language and culture also increase the capacity for intraspecific assortative mating across individuals in the human species (by increasing the number of dissimilarities and categories of similarities across individuals in the human species). It is interesting to consider functional analogies amongst animals and plants: Birdsong and feather colors in bird species, and the colors and shapes of angiosperm flowering plant species play similar functions in these species, i.e., they increase the number and differentiation of characteristics across individual organisms, thus increasing the capacity for assortative mating across individual organisms in bird species (intraspecific assortative mating), and increasing the capacity for assortative mating across angiosperm species and insect, bee, and bird species (interspecific assortative mating).""

Download or read book Facing the Future written by Nuel Belnap and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2001-08-02 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Here is an important new theory of human action, a theory that assumes actions are founded on choices made by agents who face an open future. It is a theory that makes indeterminism not only intelligible but illuminating. Tools from philosophy of language and philosophical logic help generate a full-scale account of agents "seeing to it that." The authors then proceed to clarify a variety of action-related topics such as determinism vs. indeterminism, imperatives, promises, strategies, joint agency, "could have done otherwise," deontic constructions, and assertions about a not yet settled future.

Download or read book The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Physics written by Eleanor Knox and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2021-09-28 with total page 787 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Companion to Philosophy of Physics is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to the state of the art in the philosophy of physics. It comprisess 54 self-contained chapters written by leading philosophers of physics at both senior and junior levels, making it the most thorough and detailed volume of its type on the market – nearly every major perspective in the field is represented. The Companion’s 54 chapters are organized into 12 parts. The first seven parts cover all of the major physical theories investigated by philosophers of physics today, and the last five explore key themes that unite the study of these theories. I. Newtonian Mechanics II. Special Relativity III. General Relativity IV. Non-Relativistic Quantum Theory V. Quantum Field Theory VI. Quantum Gravity VII. Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics VIII. Explanation IX. Intertheoretic Relations X. Symmetries XI. Metaphysics XII. Cosmology The difficulty level of the chapters has been carefully pitched so as to offer both accessible summaries for those new to philosophy of physics and standard reference points for active researchers on the front lines. An introductory chapter by the editors maps out the field, and each part also begins with a short summary that places the individual chapters in context. The volume will be indispensable to any serious student or scholar of philosophy of physics.