-
30Time’s Arrow Today: Recent Physical and Philosophical Work on the Direction of TimePhilosophical Review 106 (4): 627. 1997.One of the questions that is addressed, from various perspectives, is the origin of time-asymmetry. Given the time-symmetry of the dynamical laws, all inferences about the future that are derivable from a dynamical theory are matched by inferences about the past. For Huw Price, who discusses the origins of cosmological time asymmetry, this is reason to treat all time-asymmetric cosmological theories with caution. He dismisses both the inflationary model and Stephen Hawking’s proposal to account …Read more
-
29The Structure of Scientific Theories, edited and with a critical introduction by Frederick SuppeDialogue 16 (2): 328-345. 1977.This volume is the record of a symposium on the structer of scientific theories held in urbana, Illinois in the spring of 1969. ofSeven main papers, commentaries, discussions, and a postscript form the bulk of the book. The rest is a nearly 240-page monograph-in-the-guise-of-an-introduction by the editor titled “The Search for Philosophic Understanding of Scientific Theories”.
-
27Wittgenstein’s Early Philosophy of MathematicsPhilosophy Research Archives 5 539-553. 1979.Wittgenstein's remarks in his Tractatus on mathematics are quite obscure. Benacerraf and Putnam wrote, "In his Tractatus Loqico-Philosophicus, Wittgenstein maintained, following Russell and Frege, that mathematics was reducible to logic." On the other hand, Max Black claims, "Wittgenstein does not regard mathematics as reducible to logic, in the manner of Whitehead and Russell." I offer a detailed commentary upon Wittgenstein's remarks, concluding that his views most likely do not follow those o…Read more
-
26Closed Time and Local Time: A Reply to DoweManuscrito 40 (1): 197-207. 2017.ABSTRACT In his contribution to this issue, “A and B Theories of Closed Time”, Phil Dowe argues that A- and B-theories of time are equally compatible with closed time, though it is commonly supposed that only B-theories are compatible with it. With some reservations to be noted below I agree with Dowe’s general conclusion, but in the course of his argument there are a number of false statements and misrepresentations of detail that require comment. I will not be able to deal with all of them in …Read more
-
24In response to the discussion of the "now" in PSYCHE - D, I sent a message (in 1996) to be posted, which the moderator killed. I think he (probably correctly) thinks the discussion is getting off topics appropriate for his list. At any rate, I wished to put a question to you (Henry Stapp) that you might (or might not) wish to address off list.
-
20Relativity, Locality and TenseIn Mauricio Suárez, Mauro Dorato & Miklós Rédei (eds.), EPSA Philosophical Issues in the Sciences · Launch of the European Philosophy of Science Association, Springer. pp. 211--217. 2009.
-
18Tachyon Signals, Causal Paradoxes, and the Relativity of SimultaneityPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1982. 1982.Some elementary properties of tachyons are described and then it is argued that the claim that (T) Tachyons exist, is incompatible with the truth of the Special Theory of Relativity (STR). First it is argued that from T, STR, and the negation of the principle that (Pl) Effect never precedes cause, one can derive a paradoxical conclusion, one of the so-called "causal paradoxes". An obvious response is to affirm (Pl), but then it is argued that (Pl) and (T) entail that STR is false.
-
11Understanding Space‐Time: The Philosophical Development of Physics from Newton to Einstein (review)Isis 100 136-137. 2009.
-
11IntroductionStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (3): 393. 2006.
-
7Tachyons and Causal Theories of Space-TimePhilosophie Et Culture: Actes du XVIIe Congrès Mondial de Philosophie 3 155-159. 1988.
-
3Epistemological Time AsymmetryPSA Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1990 (1): 317-324. 1990.There is a wide-spread belief that we know more about the past than we do about the future. It may be difficult to express the content of this belief exactly and it may turn out that, when we find some precise expression of this belief, it is not so obviously true. I shall assume, however, that there is something to a belief shared not only by eminent philosophers but by cultures wholly distinct from our own, as the following quote indicates.We know where the future is. It’s in front of us. Righ…Read more
-
2Fred I. Dretske, Knowledge and the Flow of Information Reviewed byPhilosophy in Review 3 (2): 55-58. 1983.
Vancouver, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Physical Science |
Areas of Interest
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Physical Science |