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49The Logical Analysis of Quantum Mechanics. Erhard Scheibe, J. B. Sykes (review)Philosophy of Science 42 (1): 96-100. 1975.
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44The role of a posteriori mathematics in physicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 62 166-175. 2018.
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3The Role of Conceptual and Linguistic FrameworksProceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association 43 24-43. 1969.
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19The problem of scientific realismAppleton-Century-Crofts. 1972.Aristotele. Science as a systematic explanation through causes.--Newton, I. Rules and reflections on scientific reasoning.--Carnap, R. Empiricism, semantics, and ontology.--Hempel, C. On the logic of explanation.--Nagel, E. The realist view of theories.--Quine, W. V. On the role of logic in explanation.--Harris, E. E. Method and explanation in metaphysics.--Einstein, A. Remarks on Bertrand Russell's theory of knowledge.--Sellars, W. The language of theories.--MacKinnon, E. Atomic physics and rea…Read more
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732Why Interpret Quantum Physics?Open Journal of Philosophy 6 (1): 86-102. 2016.This article probes the question of what interpretations of quantum mechanics actually accomplish. In other domains, which are briefly considered, interpretations serve to make alien systematizations intelligible to us. This often involves clarifying the status of their implicit ontology. A survey of interpretations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics supports the evaluation that these interpretations make a contribution to philosophy, but not to physics. Interpretations of quantum field theor…Read more
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112Schwinger and the ontology of quantum field theoryFoundations of Science 12 (4): 295-323. 2007.An epistemological interpretation of quantum mechanics hinges on the claim that the distinctive features of quantum mechanics can be derived from some distinctive features of an observational basis. Old and new variations of this theme are listed. The program has a limited success in non-relativistic quantum mechanics. The crucial issue is how far it can be extended to quantum field theory without introducing significant ontological postulates. A C*-formulation covers algebraic quantum field the…Read more
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121Philosophical interpretations of theories generally presuppose that a theory can be presented as a consistent mathematical formulation that is interpreted through models. Algebraic quantum field theory (AQFT) can fit this interpretative model. However, standard Lagrangian quantum field theory (LQFT), as well as quantum electrodynamics and nuclear physics, resists recasting along such formal lines. The difference has a distinct bearing on ontological issues. AQFT does not treat particle interacti…Read more
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65Bohr and the realism debatesIn Jan Faye & Henry J. Folse (eds.), Niels Bohr and Contemporary Philosophy, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 279--302. 1994.This article clarifies Bohr's position by focusing on the work he did in nuclear physics and scattering theory.
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31The Development of Kant's Conception of Scientific ExplanationPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1978. 1978.In the course of his long development, Kant's concept of matter changed somewhat, while his concept of scientific explanation changed considerably. Both developments achieved a coherent integration in Kant's Metaphysical Foundations of Natural Science. Using this developmental background, the present paper argues that the Foundations should be interpreted as an attempted rational reconstruction of the mechanics of Newton and Euler. Kant attempted to do this by constructing a concept of matter th…Read more
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12Pauli’s Exclusion Principle: The Origin and Validation of a Scientific Principle (review)Isis 97 773-774. 2006.
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10Eugene D. Mayers 1915-2007Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association 81 (2). 2007.A memorial notice
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53Scientific Progress and Conceptual ConsistencyPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1984. 1984.One of the key interpretative problems generated by the development of quantum theory was the conceptual consistency underlying scientific change, a problem not adequately treated by any of the leading theories of scientific development. In different but related ways Quine, Sellars, and Davidson have treated the problem of conceptual consistency by showing how one can begin with ordinary language and proceed to specialized extensions. Their techniques have not been applied to modern physics. How…Read more
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7Interpreting Bodies: Classical and Quantum Objects in Modern Physics by Elena Castellani (review)Isis 92 209-210. 2001.
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26Bruce R. Wheaton, The Tiger and the Shark: Empirical Roots of wave-particle Dualism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Pp. xxiv + 355. ISBN 0-521-25098-6. £22.50, $39.50. With a Foreword by Thomas S. Kuhn (review)British Journal for the History of Science 18 (3): 347-348. 1985.
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37Interpreting Physics: Language and the Classical/Quantim DivideSpringer. 2011.This book is the first to offer a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. An historical-conceptual analysis of the co-evolution of physics and mathematics leads to the classical/quantum interface. Bohr's interpretation is analyzed and extended to the interpretation of the standard model of particle physics.
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32The language of classical physicsLinguistic and Philosophical Investigations 9 36-113. 2010.ABSTRACT. The objectivity of physics has been called into question by social theorists, Kuhnian relativists, and by anomalous aspects of quantum mechanics. Here we focus on one neglected background issue, the categorical structure of the language of classical physics. The first half is an historical overview of the formation of the language of classical physics, beginning with Aristotle's Categories and the novel idea of the quantity of a quality introduced by medieval Aristotelians. Descartes a…Read more
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11Physical Sciences and History of Physics by R. S. Cohen; M. W. Wartofsky (review)Isis 77 110-111. 1986.
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15Models as Mediators: Perspectives on Natural and Social Science. Mary S. Morgan, Margaret MorrisonIsis 92 (3): 642-643. 2001.
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17Epistemological Problems in the Philosophy of Science, IIReview of Metaphysics 22 (2). 1968.This article completes the study begun in I by a detailed consideration of errol harris's, "the foundations of metaphysics in science" and by an independent interpretation of the epistemological foundations of scientific theories. This is done in terms of two components labelled 'a physical language' and 'a mathematical language'. A physical language is conceived as a transformed extension of ordinary language which preserves its basic structural principles while modifying its descriptive metaph…Read more
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128The standard model as a philosophical challengePhilosophy of Science 75 (4): 447-457. 2008.There are two opposing traditions in contemporary quantum field theory (QFT). Mainstream Lagrangian QFT led to and supports the standard model of particle interactions. Algebraic QFT seeks to provide a rigorous consistent mathematical foundation for field theory, but cannot accommodate the local gauge interactions of the standard model. Interested philosophers face a choice. They can accept algebraic QFT on the grounds of mathematical consistency and general accord with the semantic conception o…Read more
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255Scientific realism: The new debatesPhilosophy of Science 46 (4): 501-532. 1979.In place of earlier instrumentalist and phenomenalist interpretations of science both Quine and Sellars have developed highly influential realist positions centering around the doctrine that accepting a theory as explanatory and irreducible rationally entails accepting the entities posited by the theory. A growing reaction against this realism is partially based on perceived inadequacies in the doctrines of Quine and Sellars, but even more on reconstructions of scientific explanations which do n…Read more
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Boston CollegeRetired faculty
Saint Louis University
PhD, 1959
Hayward, California, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Mind |
Philosophy of Physical Science |
General Philosophy of Science |