World View of Contemporary Physics: Does It Need a New by Richard F. Kitchener

By Richard F. Kitchener

Even though early 20th century physics produced progressive new conceptions of the character of the actual universe--relativity conception and quantum theory--more fresh advancements within the actual sciences have made it critical for physicists to reassess the older global view of physics and the assumptions upon which it was once established. even though, theorizing in regards to the nature and standing of fact has been the province of philosophers for hundreds of years. Philosophers, proficient in metaphysics, supplied a special viewpoint for viewing and a distinct approach for fixing a few of these difficulties. preferably, accordingly, either philosophers and physicists should still interact in discussion style in this vital issue.

These teams come jointly for the 1st time during this publication to envision the questions: what's the global view of up to date physics? Does it desire a new metaphysics? if this is the case, what sort of metaphysics does it want? the world over identified students, together with Ilya Prigogine and Fritjof Capra, who're well-known as specialists during this interdisciplinary box, handle such comparable issues because the nature of the brain, our position in society, and the character of ethics.

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M. 1982. The Principles of Quantum Mechanics. , rev. New York: Oxford University Press. Eddington, A. 1958. The Philosophy of Physical Science. : University of Michigan Press. (Original work published in 1939). , and Rosen, N. 1935. Can Quantum-Mechanical Description of Physical Reality be Considered Complete? Physical Review 47: 47780. Reprinted in J. A. Wheeler and W. H. Zurek, eds. 1983. Quantum Theory and Measurement. Princeton: Princeton University Press. , and Resnick, R. 1986. Quantum Physics.

PhysicsCongresses. 2. MetaphysicsCongresses. I. W67 1988 530dc1987-24084 CIP 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 Page v Contents Preface 1 1. Introduction: The World View of Contemporary Physics: Does It Need a New Metaphysics? Richard F. Kitchener 3 2. The Relation Between Natural Science and Metaphysics Ivor Leclerc 25 3. Quantum Theory and the Physicist's Conception of Nature: Philosophical Implications of Bell's Theorem Henry P. Stapp 38 4. How to Kill Schrödinger's Cat Jeffrey Bub 59 5. The Universal Quantum David Finkelstein 75 6.

The connection between physics and metaphysics is not a recent question, however, for earlier in this century the physicists Sir Arthur Eddington (1939/1958) and Sir James Jeans (1942/1965) and the philosophers Bertrand Russell (1972/1954) and Alfred North Whitehead (1929/1978) addressed this question in considerable detail. 12 Indeed, for those philosophers who believe science has strong metaphysical implications, the following two conclusions seem to be presupposed: 1. Metaphysics must, in some way, be based on the best available science.

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