|
Jeremy Butterfield
Jeremy Nicholas Butterfield FBA (born 23 December 1954) is a philosopher at the University of Cambridge, noted particularly for his work on philosophical aspects of quantum theory, relativity theory and classical mechanics. Biography Butterfield was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, obtaining his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge in 1984; he was supervised by Hugh Mellor and David Malament. He was a lecturer in the philosophy faculty at Cambridge University and was later promoted to reader in 1997. In 1998, he became a senior research fellow at All Souls College at the University of Oxford; he returned to the University of Cambridge in his present position in 2006. He has held visiting positions at Princeton University, the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Sydney. Butterfield is a fellow of the British Academy and a senior research fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. He is a past president of the British Society for the Philosophy of Science, and of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Western Philosophy
Western philosophy refers to the Philosophy, philosophical thought, traditions and works of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the Pre-Socratic philosophy, pre-Socratics. The word ''philosophy'' itself originated from the Ancient Greek (φιλοσοφία), literally, "the love of wisdom" , "to love" and σοφία ''Sophia (wisdom), sophía'', "wisdom". History Ancient The scope of ancient Western philosophy included the problems of philosophy as they are understood today; but it also included many other disciplines, such as pure mathematics and natural sciences such as physics, astronomy, and biology (Aristotle, for example, wrote on all of these topics). Pre-Socratics The pre-Socratic philosophers were interested in cosmology (the nature and origin of the universe), while rejecting unargued fables in place for argued theory, i.e., dogma superseded reason, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
University Of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its Urban university, urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the university's central administration and around 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The 132-acre Pittsburgh campus includes various historic buildings that are part of the Schenley Farms Historic District, most notably its 42-story Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic revival centerpiece, the Cathedral of Learning. Pitt is a member of the Association of American Universities and is Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". Pitt traces its roots to the Pittsburgh Academy founded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge in 1787. While the city was still on the History of Pittsburgh#Gatewa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Lewis (philosopher)
David Kellogg Lewis (September 28, 1941– October 14, 2001) was an American philosopher. Lewis taught briefly at UCLA and then at Princeton University from 1970 until his death. He is closely associated with Australia, whose philosophical community he visited almost annually for more than 30 years. Lewis made significant contributions in philosophy of mind, philosophy of probability, epistemology, philosophical logic, aesthetics, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of time and philosophy of science. In most of these fields he is considered among the most important figures of recent decades. Lewis is most famous for his work in metaphysics, philosophy of language and semantics, in which his books ''On the Plurality of Worlds'' (1986) and ''Counterfactuals'' (1973) are considered classics. His works on the logic and semantics of counterfactual conditionals are broadly used by philosophers and linguists along with a competing account from Robert Stalnaker; together the Stal ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hole Argument
In general relativity, the hole argument is an apparent paradox that much troubled Albert Einstein while he was developing his field equations. Einstein's hole argument In a usual field equation, knowing the source of the field, and the boundary conditions, determines the field everywhere. For example, if we are given the current and charge density and appropriate boundary conditions, Maxwell's equations determine the electric and magnetic fields. They do not determine the vector potential though, because the vector potential depends on an arbitrary choice of gauge. Einstein noticed that if the equations of gravity are generally covariant, then the metric cannot be determined uniquely by its sources as a function of the coordinates of spacetime. As an example: consider a gravitational source, such as the Sun. Then there is some gravitational field described by a metric g(r). Now perform a coordinate transformation r \to r' where r' is the same as r for points which are inside the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantum Measurement Problem
In quantum mechanics, the measurement problem is the ''problem of definite outcomes:'' quantum systems have superpositions but quantum measurements only give one definite result. The wave function in quantum mechanics evolves deterministically according to the Schrödinger equation as a linear superposition of different states. However, actual measurements always find the physical system in a definite state. Any future evolution of the wave function is based on the state the system was discovered to be in when the measurement was made, meaning that the measurement "did something" to the system that is not obviously a consequence of Schrödinger evolution. The measurement problem is describing what that "something" is, how a superposition of many possible values becomes a single measured value. To express matters differently (paraphrasing Steven Weinberg), the Schrödinger equation determines the wave function at any later time. If observers and their measuring apparatus are th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Reichenbach
Hans Reichenbach (; ; September 26, 1891 – April 9, 1953) was a leading philosopher of science, educator, and proponent of logical empiricism. He was influential in the areas of science, education, and of logical empiricism. He founded the ''Gesellschaft für empirische Philosophie'' (Society for Empirical Philosophy) in Berlin in 1928, also known as the " Berlin Circle". Carl Gustav Hempel, Richard von Mises, David Hilbert and Kurt Grelling all became members of the Berlin Circle. In 1930, Reichenbach and Rudolf Carnap became editors of the journal '' Erkenntnis''. He also made lasting contributions to the study of empiricism based on a theory of probability; the logic and the philosophy of mathematics; space, time, and relativity theory; analysis of probabilistic reasoning; and quantum mechanics. In 1951, he authored ''The Rise of Scientific Philosophy'', his most popular book. Early life Hans was the second son of a Jewish merchant, Bruno Reichenbach, who had conve ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bell Inequalities
Bell's theorem is a term encompassing a number of closely related results in physics, all of which determine that quantum mechanics is incompatible with local hidden-variable theories, given some basic assumptions about the nature of measurement. The first such result was introduced by John Stewart Bell in 1964, building upon the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paradox, which had called attention to the phenomenon of quantum entanglement. In the context of Bell's theorem, "local" refers to the principle of locality, the idea that a particle can only be influenced by its immediate surroundings, and that interactions mediated by physical fields cannot propagate faster than the speed of light. " Hidden variables" are supposed properties of quantum particles that are not included in quantum theory but nevertheless affect the outcome of experiments. In the words of Bell, "If hidden-variable theoryis local it will not agree with quantum mechanics, and if it agrees with quantum mechani ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure of arguments alone, independent of their topic and content. Informal logic is associated with informal fallacies, critical thinking, and argumentation theory. Informal logic examines arguments expressed in natural language whereas formal logic uses formal language. When used as a countable noun, the term "a logic" refers to a specific logical formal system that articulates a proof system. Logic plays a central role in many fields, such as philosophy, mathematics, computer science, and linguistics. Logic studies arguments, which consist of a set of premises that leads to a conclusion. An example is the argument from the premises "it's Sunday" and "if it's Sunday then I don't have to work" leading to the conclusion "I don't have to wor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy Of Language
Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), meaning, intentionality, reference, the constitution of sentences, concepts, learning, and thought. Gottlob Frege and Bertrand Russell were pivotal figures in analytic philosophy's "linguistic turn". These writers were followed by Ludwig Wittgenstein (''Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus''), the Vienna Circle, Logical positivism, logical positivists, and Willard Van Orman Quine. History Ancient philosophy In the West, inquiry into language stretches back to the 5th century BC with philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Linguistic speculation predated systematic descriptions of grammar which emerged in India and in Greece. In the dialogue ''Cratylus (dialogue), Cratylus'', Plato considered the question of whether ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy Of Physics
In philosophy, the philosophy of physics deals with conceptual and interpretational issues in physics, many of which overlap with research done by certain kinds of theoretical physicists. Historically, philosophers of physics have engaged with questions such as the nature of space, time, matter and the laws that govern their interactions, as well as the epistemological and ontological basis of the theories used by practicing physicists. The discipline draws upon insights from various areas of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science, while also engaging with the latest developments in theoretical and experimental physics. Contemporary work focuses on issues at the foundations of the three pillars of modern physics: * Quantum mechanics: Interpretations of quantum theory, including the nature of quantum states, the measurement problem, and the role of observers. Implications of entanglement, nonlocality, and the quantum-classical relations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Philosophy Of Science Association
The Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) is an international academic organization founded in 1933 that promotes research, teaching, and free discussion of issues in the philosophy of science from diverse standpoints. The PSA engages in activities such as the publishing of periodicals, essays and monographs in the field of the philosophy of science; holding biennial conferences; awarding of prizes for distinguished work in the field; supporting early-career scholars; and sponsoring in public engagement events. History of the Association The PSA was founded in 1933 and incorporated in Michigan 1975. The administrative offices of the PSA have been located at the University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences since 2021. ''Philosophy of Science'' ''Philosophy of Science'', the official journal of the Philosophy of Science Association (PSA), has been published continuously since 1934. ''Philosophy of Science'' publishes the best work in philosophy of science, broadly co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mind Association
The Mind Association is a philosophical society whose purpose is to promote the study of philosophy. The association publishes the journal ''Mind'' quarterly. It was established in 1900 on the death of Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (; 31 May 1838 – 28 August 1900) was an English Utilitarianism, utilitarian philosopher and economist and is best known in philosophy for his utilitarian treatise ''The Methods of Ethics''. His work in economics has also had a ..., who had supported ''Mind'' financially since 1891 and had suggested that after his death the society should be formed to oversee the journal. References External links Mind Association website* Philosophical societies in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 1900 {{prof-assoc-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
