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27David Clarke and Eric Clarke, eds. , Music and Consciousness: Philosophical, Psychological, and Cultural Perspectives . Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 32 (4): 253-258. 2012.
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118Many of the advances in string theory have been generated by the discovery of new duality symmetries connecting what were once thought to be distinct theories, solu- tions, processes, backgrounds, and more. Indeed, duality has played an enormously important role in the creation and development of numerous theories in physics and numerous fields of mathematics. Dualities often lie at those fruitful intersections at which mathematics and physics are especially strongly intertwined. In this paper I…Read more
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41Richard Dawid string theory and the scientific method (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 67 (3): 925-929. 2016.
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106A philosopher looks at string dualitiesStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 42 (1): 54-67. 2011.
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77Public healthIn Fred Gifford (ed.), Philosophy of Medicine, Elsevier. 2010.Public health involves the application of a wide variety of scientific and non-scientific disciplines to the very practical problems of improving population health and preventing disease. Public health has received surprisingly little attention from philosophers of science. In this chapter we consider some neglected but important philosophical aspects of the science of public health.
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44Introduction to special issue on dualitiesStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 59 1-5. 2017.
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17Huw Price and Richard Corry, eds. Causation, Physics, and the Constitution of Reality: Russell's Republic Revisited Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 30 (2): 127-131. 2010.
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93In this paper I examine the connection between symmetry and modality from the perspective of `reduction' methods in geometric mechanics. I begin by setting the problem up as a choice between two opposing views: reduction and non-reduction. I then discern four views on the matter in the literature; they are distinguished by their advocation of distinct geometric spaces as representing `reality'. I come down in favour of non-reductive methods.
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2Book Review (review)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 41 (2): 160-162. 2010.
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422Quantum gravity meets structuralism: Interweaving relations in the foundations of physicsIn Dean Rickles, Steven French & Juha T. Saatsi (eds.), The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity, Oxford University Press. pp. 1--39. 2006.
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2Structure, Objects and Causality, , Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, vol. 77 (edited book)Springer. 2011.
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153Mirror Symmetry and Other Miracles in Superstring TheoryFoundations of Physics 43 (1): 54-80. 2013.The dominance of string theory in the research landscape of quantum gravity physics (despite any direct experimental evidence) can, I think, be justified in a variety of ways. Here I focus on an argument from mathematical fertility, broadly similar to Hilary Putnam’s ‘no miracles argument’ that, I argue, many string theorists in fact espouse in some form or other. String theory has generated many surprising, useful, and well-confirmed mathematical ‘predictions’—here I focus on mirror symmetry an…Read more
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14Julian Savulescu and Nick Bostrom, eds. , Human Enhancement . Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 31 (1): 64-66. 2011.
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82Dual theories: ‘Same but different’ or ‘different but same’?Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 59 62-67. 2017.I argue that, under the glitz, dual theories are examples of theoretically equivalent descriptions of the same underlying physical content: I distinguish them from cases of genuine underdetermination on the grounds that there is no real incompatibility involved between the descriptions. The incompatibility is at the level of unphysical structure. I argue that dual pairs are in fact very strongly analogous to gauge- related solutions even for dual pairs that look the most radically distinct, such…Read more
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40In this chapter I consider what recent work on background independent physics can do for structuralism, and what structuralism can do for background independent physics. I focus on the problems of time and observables in gravitational physics. The ‘frozen’ character of the observables of general relativity is usually considered to constitute a serious problem for the theory. I argue that by invoking correlations between physical quantities we can provide a natural explanation of the appear- ance…Read more
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69Review of M. Gasperini, & J. Maharana (Eds.) (2008). String theory and fundamental interactions. Gabriele Veneziano and theoretical physics: Historical and contemporary perspectives (pp. xviii + 974, hardback, €99.95). Springer, ISBN 978-3-540-74232- (review)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 41 (2): 160-162. 2010.
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1Alexander R. Pruss, The Principle of Sufficient Reason: A ReassessmentPhilosophy in Review 27 (5): 370. 2007.
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7Peter Machamer and Gereon Wolters, eds. Thinking About Causes: From Greek Philosophy to Modern Physics Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 30 (2): 127-131. 2010.
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116Review: Physical Relativity: Space-time Structure from a Dynamical Perspective (review)Mind 116 (463): 736-740. 2007.
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126Interpreting quantum gravityStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 36 (4): 691-715. 2005.This is an essay review of two textbooks on quantum gravity by Carlo Rovelli and Claus Kiefer.
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85The Ashgate Companion to Contemporary Philosophy of Physics (edited book)Ashgate. 2008."Introducing the reader to the very latest developments in the philosophical foundations of physics, this book covers advanced material at a level suitable for ...
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107Bringing the hole argument back in the loop: A response to PooleyStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (2): 381-387. 2006.
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26I examine the early history of quantum gravity and comment on its suitability as an episode that demands an integrated approach to history and philosophy of science.
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27Structural Realism: Structure, Object, and Causality (edited book)Springer. 2012.Structural realism has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, but it has splintered into many distinct denominations, often underpinned by diverse motivations. There is, no monolithic position known as ‘structural realism,’ but there is a general convergence on the idea that a central role is to be played by relational aspects over object-based aspects of ontology. What becomes of causality in a world without fundamental objects? In this book, the foremost authorities on structural realis…Read more
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46Melville Y. Stewart, ed. , Science and Religion in Dialogue (2 vols.) . Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 32 (1): 62-68. 2012.
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4Kit Fine, Modality and Tense: Philosophical Papers Reviewed by (review)Philosophy in Review 26 (4): 250-252. 2006.
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113In this chapter we consider economic systems, and in particular financial systems, from the perspective of the physics of complex systems (i.e. statistical physics, the theory of critical phenomena, and their cognates). This field of research is known as econophysics—alternative names are ‘financial physics’ and ‘statistical phynance.’ This title was coined in 1995 by Eugene Stanley, and since then its researchers have attempted to forge it as an independent and important field, one that stands …Read more
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90Who's afraid of background independence?In Dennis Geert Bernardus Johan Dieks (ed.), The Ontology of Spacetime II, Elsevier. pp. 133--52. 2008.Background independence is generally considered to be ‘the mark of distinction’ of general relativity. However, there is still confusion over exactly what background independence is and how, if at all, it serves to distinguish general relativity from other theories. There is also some confusion over the philosophical implications of background independence, stemming in part from the definitional problems. In this paper I attempt to make some headway on both issues. In each case I argue that a pro…Read more
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