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13307This book argues for the need to put into practice a profound and comprehensive intellectual revolution, affecting to a greater or lesser extent all branches of scientific and technological research, scholarship and education. This intellectual revolution differs, however, from the now familiar kind of scientific revolution described by Kuhn. It does not primarily involve a radical change in what we take to be knowledge about some aspect of the world, a change of paradigm. Rather it involves a r…Read more
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459Can the World Learn Wisdom?Solidarity, Sustainability, and Non-Violence 3 (4). 2007.The crisis of our times is that we have science without wisdom. This is the crisis behind all the others. Population growth, the terrifyingly lethal character of modern war and terrorism, immense differences of wealth across the globe, annihilation of indigenous people, cultures and languages, impending depletion of natural resources, destruction of tropical rain forests and other natural habitats, rapid mass extinction of species, pollution of sea, earth and air, thinning of the ozone layer, …Read more
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604Three Criticisms of Newton’s Inductive Argument in the PrincipiaAdvances in Historical Studies 3 (1): 2-11. 2013.In this paper, I discuss how Newton’s inductive argument of the Principia can be defended against criticisms levelled against it by Duhem, Popper and myself. I argue that Duhem’s and Popper’s criticisms can be countered, but mine cannot. It requires that we reconsider, not just Newton’s inductive argument in the Principia, but also the nature of science more generally. The methods of science, whether conceived along inductivist or hypothetico-deductivist lines, make implicit metaphysical presupp…Read more
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1496The Urgent Need for an Academic Revolution: The Rational Pursuit of WisdomIn Charles Tandy (ed.), Death And Anti-Death, Volume 7: Nine Hundred Years After St. Anselm (1033-1109, Ria University Press. 2010.We are in a state of impending crisis. And the fault lies in part with academia. For two centuries or so, academia has been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and technological know-how. This has enormously increased our power to act which has, in turn, brought us both all the great benefits of the modern world and the crises we now face. Modern science and technology have made possible modern industry and agriculture, the explosive growth of the world’s population, global warming, modern a…Read more
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715Does orthodox quantum theory undermine, or support, scientific realism?Philosophical Quarterly 44 (171): 139-157. 1994.It is usually taken for granted that orthodox quantum theory poses a serious problem for scientific realism, in that the theory is empirically extraordinarily successful, and yet has instrumentalism built into it. This paper stand this view on its head. I argue that orthodox quantum theory suffers from a number of serious (if not always noticed) defects precisely because of its inbuilt instrumentalism. This defective character of orthdoox quantum theory thus undermines instrumentalism, and su…Read more
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148A Philosopher Struggles to Understand Quantum Theory: Particle Creation and Wavepacket ReductionIn M. Ferrero & A. van der Merwe (eds.), Fundamental Problems in Quantum Physics, . 1995.Work on the central problems of the philosophy of science has led the author to attempt to create an intelligible version of quantum theory. The basic idea is that probabilistic transitions occur when new stationary or particle states arise as a result of inelastic collisions.
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612Towards a Micro Realistic Version of Quantum Mechanics, Part IIFoundations of Physics 6 (6): 661-676. 1976.In this paper, possible objections to the propensity microrealistic version of quantum mechanics proposed in Part I are answered. This version of quantum mechanics is compared with the statistical, particle microrealistic viewpoint, and a crucial experiment is proposed designed to distinguish between these to microrealistic versions of quantum mechanics.
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597A Revolution for Science and the Humanities: From Knowledge to WisdomDialogue and Universalism 15 (1-2): 29-57. 2004.At present the basic intellectual aim of academic inquiry is to improve knowledge. Much of the structure, the whole character, of academic inquiry, in universities all over the world, is shaped by the adoption of this as the basic intellectual aim. But, judged from the standpoint of making a contribution to human welfare, academic inquiry of this type is damagingly irrational. Three of four of the most elementary rules of rational problem-solving are violated. A revolution in the aims and method…Read more
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757Art as Its Own InterpretationIn Andreea Ruvoi (ed.), Interpretation and Its Objects: Studies in the Philosophy of Michael Krausz, Rodopi. 2003.In this article I argue that a work of art provides the best interpretation of itself - more faithful than any other scholarly interpretative work
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795A scientific theory, in order to be accepted as a part of theoretical scientific knowledge, must satisfy both empirical and non-empirical requirements, the latter having to do with simplicity, unity, explanatory character, symmetry, beauty. No satisfactory, generally accepted account of such non-empirical requirements has so far been given. Here, a proposal is put forward which, it is claimed, makes a contribution towards solving the problem. This proposal concerns unity of physical theory. In o…Read more
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522Philosophy Seminars for Five-Year-Olds,Learning for Democracy 1 (2): 71-77. 2005.We need a revolution in education, from five year olds onwards, so that exploration of problems is at the heart of the enterprise.
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159Zagrożenie nauką bez cywilizacji: od wiedzy do mądrości (Polish translation of "The Menace of Science without Civilization: From Knowledge to Wisdom" (2012))Zagadnienia Naukoznawstwa 47 (189): 269-294. 2011.We are in a state of impending crisis. And the fault lies in part with academia. For two centuries or so, academia has been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and technological know-how. This has enormously increased our power to act which has, in turn, brought us both all the great benefits of the modern world and the crises we now face. Modern science and technology have made possible modern industry and agriculture, the explosive growth of the world’s population, global warming, modern armam…Read more
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927What’s Wrong With Aim-Oriented Empiricism?Acta Baltica Historiae Et Philosophiae Scientiarum 3 (2): 5-31. 2015.For four decades it has been argued that we need to adopt a new conception of science called aim-oriented empiricism. This has far-reaching implications and repercussions for science, the philosophy of science, academic inquiry in general, conception of rationality, and how we go about attempting to make progress towards as good a world as possible. Despite these far-reaching repercussions, aim-oriented empiricism has so far received scant attention from philosophers of science. Here, sixteen…Read more
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225Knowledge or wisdom?The Philosophers' Magazine 62 (62): 17-18. 2013.A bad philosophy of inquiry, built into the intellectual/institutional structure of universities round the world, betrays both reason and humanity.
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645How Universities Can Help Humanity Learn How to Resolve the Crises of Our Times - From Knowledge to Wisdom: The University College London ExperienceIn G. Heam Heam, T. Katlelle & D. Rooney (eds.), Handbook on the Knowledge Economy, vol. 2, . 2012.We are in a state of impending crisis. And the fault lies in part with academia. For two centuries or so, academia has been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and technological know-how. This has enormously increased our power to act which has, in turn, brought us both all the great benefits of the modern world and the crises we now face. Modern science and technology have made possible modern industry and agriculture, the explosive growth of the world’s population, global warming, modern a…Read more
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386Universities: from knowledge to wisdomScientists for Global Responsibility Newsletter (38): 18-20. 2010.Nicholas Maxwell argues that the growth in academic work devoted to policy issues could mark the beginning of a shift from ‘knowledge-inquiry’ to ‘wisdom-inquiry’, leading to importance benefits for society.
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272How to Create a Better World: Bring about a Revolution in UniversitiesDiscussion Blog. 2013.In order to create a better world we need to bring about a revolution in universities so that they become devoted to helping humanity learn how to make progress towards as good a world as possible.
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Does the Minimal Statistical Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics Resolve the Measurement Problem?Methodology and Science 8 84-101. 1975.It is argued that the so-called minimal statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics does not completely resolve the measurement problem in that this view is unable to show that quantjum mechanics can dispense with classical physics when it comes to a treatment of the measuring interaction. It is suggested that the view that quantum mechanics applies to individual systems should not be too hastily abandoned, in that this view gives perhaps the best hope of leading to a version of quantum mec…Read more
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530The Menace of Science without Civilization: From Knowledge to WisdomDialogue and Universalism 22 (3): 39-63. 2012.We are in a state of impending crisis. And the fault lies in part with academia. For two centuries or so, academia has been devoted to the pursuit of knowledge and technological know-how. This has enormously increased our power to act which has, in turn, brought us both all the great benefits of the modern world and the crises we now face. Modern science and technology have made possible modern industry and agriculture, the explosive growth of the world’s population, global warming, modern a…Read more
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422Wanted: a new way of thinkingNew Scientist (14 May 1987): 63. 1987.Our world is beset with appalling problems. To solve these urgent, intractable global problems it is not new scientific knowledge and technology that we need so much as new actions: new policies, new international relations, new institutions and social arrangements, new ways of living. The mere provision of scientific know-ledge and technological know-how cannot help much: indeed, all too often it actually makes matters worse. The dreadful truth is that science has played a crucial role, often …Read more
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873Does probabilism solve the great quantum mystery?Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 19 (3): 321-336. 2010.I put forward a micro realistic, probabilistic version of quantum theory, which specifies the precise nature of quantum entities thus solving the quantum wave/particle dilemma, and which both reproduces the empirical success of orthodox quantum theory, and yields predictions that differ from orthodox quantum theory for as yet unperformed experiments.
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26Beyond Fapp: Three Approaches to Improving Orthodox Quantum Theory and An Experimental TestIn A. van der Merwe, F. Selleri & G. Tarozzi (eds.), Bell's Theorem and the Foundations of Modern Physics, World Scientific. 1993.Because it fails to solve the wave-particle problem, orthodox quantum theory is obliged to be about observables and not quantum beables. As a result the theory is imprecise, ambiguous, ad hoc, lacking in explanatory power, restricted in scope and resistant to unification. A new version of quantum theory is needed that is about quantum beables.
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473Scientific metaphysicsPhilsci Archive. 2004.In this paper I argue that physics makes metaphysical presuppositions concerning the physical comprehensibility, the dynamic unity, of the universe. I argue that rigour requires that these metaphysical presuppositions be made explicit as an integral part of theoretical knowledge in physics. An account of what it means to assert of a theory that it is unified is developed, which provides the means for partially ordering dynamical physical theories with respect to their degrees of unity. This in t…Read more
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652Two Great Problems of LearningTeaching in Higher Education, 8 (January): 129-134. 2003.Two great problems of learning confront humanity: learning about the universe, and learning how to live wisely. The first problem was solved with the creation of modern science, but the second problem has not been solved. This combination puts humanity into a situation of unprecedented danger. In order to solve the second problem we need to learn from our solution to the first problem. This requires that we bring about a revolution in the overall aims and methods of academic inquiry, so that…Read more
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457Comprehensibility rather than beautyPhilsci Archive. 2001.Most scientists and philosophers of science recognize that, when it comes to accepting and rejecting theories in science, considerations that have to do with simplicity, unity, symmetry, elegance, beauty or explanatory power have an important role to play, in addition to empirical considerations. Until recently, however, no one has been able to give a satisfactory account of what simplicity (etc.) is, or how giving preference to simple theories is to be justified. But in the last few years, two …Read more
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831A New Look at the Quantum Mechanical Problem of MeasurementAmerican Journal of Physics 40. 1972.According to orthodox quantum mechanics, state vectors change in two incompatible ways: "deterministically" in accordance with Schroedinger's time-dependent equation, and probabilistically if and only if a measurement is made. It is argued here that the problem of measurement arises because the precise mutually exclusive conditions for these two types of transitions to occur are not specified within orthodox quantum mechanics. Fundamentally, this is due to an inevitable ambiguity in the notio…Read more
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435Practical certainty and cosmological conjecturesIn Michael Rahnfeld (ed.), Is there Certain Knowledge?, Leipziger Universitätsverlag. 2005.We ordinarily assume that we have reliable knowledge of our immediate surroundings, so much so that almost all the time we entrust our lives to the truth of what we take ourselves to know, without a moment’s thought. But if, as Karl Popper and others have maintained, all our knowledge is conjectural, then this habitual assumption that our common sense knowledge of our environment is secure and trustworthy would seem to be an illusion. Popper’s philosophy of science, in particular, fails to do ju…Read more
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568Science, Knowledge, Wisdom and the Public GoodScientists for Global Responsibility Newsletter 1 (26 February 2003): 7-9. 2003.What kind of science – or, more generally, what kind of academic inquiry – can best contribute to the public good? Two answers are considered: knowledge-inquiry and wisdom-inquiry. The former is what we have at present. It is, however, damagingly irrational. The latter is more rigorous and, potentially, of greater value in human and intellectual terms. It arises as a result of putting the Enlightenment Programme properly into practice. We urgently need to bring about a revolution in academ…Read more
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1317Are probabilism and special relativity incompatible?Philosophy of Science 52 (1): 23-43. 1985.In this paper I expound an argument which seems to establish that probabilism and special relativity are incompatible. I examine the argument critically, and consider its implications for interpretative problems of quantum theory, and for theoretical physics as a whole.
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