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24Epistemological Problems in the Philosophy of Science, IReview of Metaphysics 22 (1). 1968.The revolt against logical positivism within the philosophy of science has now lasted long enough to produce something of a counter-revolution. As the more strident charges (positivistic analyses misrepresent the most fundamental features of the scientific enterprise and have contributed little or nothing to its clarification) and counter-charges (any attempt to induce a philosophy of science from studies in the history of science rests on a massive genetic fallacy) gradually subside, critical i…Read more
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49A reinterpretation of Harre's copernican revolutionPhilosophy of Science 42 (1): 67-79. 1975.Rom Harré's proposed Copernican Revolution in the philosophy of science is a very ambitious undertaking. It challenges established views, proposes a radically new model for scientific explanation, and forces a rethinking of the foundations of the field. In his treatment of the natural sciences, Harré rejects all deductivist accounts of scientific explanation basically on the grounds that such accounts seriously distort the methods of explanation actually operative in science. In the social scien…Read more
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249The truth of scientific claimsPhilosophy of Science 49 (3): 437-462. 1982.The idea that science aspires to and routinely achieves truths about the world has been challenged in recent writings. Rather than beginning with a theory of scientific development, or of scientific explanation, we begin with a consideration of truth claims in ordinary discourse, particularly with Davidson's truth-functional semantics. Next we consider the way in which some framework features of ordinary language discourse are extended to and modified in scientific discourse. Two areas are treat…Read more
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397The consistent histories reformulation of quantum mechanics was developed by Robert Griffiths, given a formal logical systematization by Roland Omn\`{e}s, and under the label `decoherent histories', was independently developed by Murray Gell-Mann and James Hartle and extended to quantum cosmology. Criticisms of CH involve issues of meaning, truth, objectivity, and coherence, a mixture of philosophy and physics. We will briefly consider the original formulation of CH and some basic objections. Th…Read more
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40Niels Bohr on the Unity of SciencePSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1980 224-244. 1980.Niels Bohr began his career with an attempt to give a correct descriptive account of the motion of electrons. When forced to abandon this interpretation, he adopted, but soon rejected, a hypothetical-deductive account. In his development of an interpretation for the new quantum theory Bohr began to concentrate on the way language functions to make descriptions possible. His later work on this problem and on the role of concepts in the foundations of science led him to anticipate some of the basi…Read more
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20Images of Science: Essays on Realism and Empiricism by Paul M. Churchland; Clifford A. Hooker; Bas C. van Fraassen (review)Isis 77 116-117. 1986.
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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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13Pauli’s Exclusion Principle: The Origin and Validation of a Scientific Principle (review)Isis 97 773-774. 2006.
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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 |