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96Counterfactual semantics and quantum physicsSemiotica 2012 (188). 2012.he paper addresses the issue of the applicability of David Lewis’s possible world semantics of counterfactual conditionals to the explication of some quantum-mechanical phenomena. Three main reasons why counterfactual semantics may be useful for this task are given. It is further argued that two possible semantic approaches to counterfactuals involving spatiotemporal events which satisfy requirements of special relativity should be taken into account. The main problem considered in the article i…Read more
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Uwagi o logice trójwartościowejFilozofia Nauki 3. 1997.As it is well known, Jan Lukasiewicz invented his three-valued logic as a result of philosophical considerations concerning the problem of determinism and the status of future contingent sentences. In the article I critically analyse the thesis that the sentential calculus introduced by Lukasiewicz himself actually fulfills his philosophical assumptions. I point out that there are some counterintuitive features of Lukasiewicz three-valued logic. Firstly, there is no clear explanation for adoptin…Read more
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Problem uzasadniania egzystencjalnych założeń teorii (Uwagi na marginesie koncepcji W. V. O. Quine'a)Przeglad Filozoficzny - Nowa Seria 3 (3): 45-53. 1992.
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74Dissecting weak discernibility of quantaStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 50 43-53. 2015.
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26Metaphysics in Contemporary Physics (edited book)Brill | Rodopi. 2015.The book _Metaphysics in Contemporary Physics_ offers various perspectives on the relation and mutual influence between modern physical theories and analytic metaphysics
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187Counterfactuals and non-locality of quantum mechanics: The bedford–stapp version of the GHZ theoremFoundations of Science 12 (1): 85-108. 2007.In the paper, the proof of the non-locality of quantum mechanics, given by Bedford and Stapp (1995), and appealing to the GHZ example, is analyzed. The proof does not contain any explicit assumption of realism, but instead it uses formal methods and techniques of the Lewis calculus of counterfactuals. To ascertain the validity of the proof, a formal semantic model for counterfactuals is constructed. With the help of this model it can be shown that the proof is faulty, because it appeals to the u…Read more
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55The indispensability argument – a new chance for empiricism in mathematics?Foundations of Science 8 (2): 173-200. 2003.In recent years, the so-calledindispensability argument has been given a lotof attention by philosophers of mathematics.This argument for the existence of mathematicalobjects makes use of the fact, neglected inclassical schools of philosophy of mathematics,that mathematics is part of our best scientifictheories, and therefore should receive similarsupport to these theories. However, thisobservation raises the question about the exactnature of the alleged connection betweenexperience and mathemat…Read more
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63On quantum entanglement, counterfactuals, causality and dispositionsSynthese 197 (10): 4161-4185. 2020.The existence of non-local correlations between outcomes of measurements in quantum entangled systems strongly suggests that we are dealing with some form of causation here. An assessment of this conjecture in the context of the collapse interpretation of quantum mechanics is the primary goal of this paper. Following the counterfactual approach to causation, I argue that the details of the underlying causal mechanism which could explain the non-local correlations in entangled states strongly dep…Read more
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8Joachim Metallmann-Causality, Determinism and SciencePoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 74 53-64. 2001.
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161Causation Without InfluenceErkenntnis 76 (1): 1-22. 2012.David Lewis’s latest theory of causation defines the causal link in terms of the relation of influence between events. It turns out, however, that one event’s influencing another is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for its being a cause of that event. In the article one particular case of causality without influence is presented and developed. This case not only serves as a counterexample to Lewis’s influence theory, but also threatens earlier counterfactual analyses of causation by …Read more
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27Władysław Krajewski, 1919–2006International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 21 (1). 2007.This Article does not have an abstract
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51In defense of an essentialist approach to Ontic Structural RealismMethode: Analytic Perspective 3 (4): 1-24. 2014.This paper offers a new perspective on the metaphysical doctrine of non-eliminative ontic structural realism by interpreting the relation of ontic dependence in terms of counterfactual identification rather than in terms of numerical identity/distinctness.
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Przyczynowość w Szkole Lwowsko-WarszawskiejFilozofia Nauki 2. 1994.The author presents and critically analyses different accounts of causal relation given by the main representants of Lvov-Warsaw School in philosophy. Although there are considerable differences between particular approaches to this problem, it is possible at least to distinguish the key questions, analysed and anwsered by these philosophers. Among them are such questions as: how to define „causal relation”, what are its formal features, what is the space-time localization of the effect and the …Read more
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108This book uses the formal semantics of counterfactual conditionals to analyze the problem of non-locality in quantum mechanics. Counterfactual conditionals enter the analysis of quantum entangled systems in that they enable us to precisely formulate the locality condition that purports to exclude the existence of causal interactions between spatially separated parts of a system. They also make it possible to speak consistently about alternative measuring settings, and to explicate what is meant …Read more
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23Exchanging Quantum ParticlesPhilosophia Scientiae 19 185-198. 2015.The mathematical notion of a permutation of indices in the state description admits different physical interpretations. Two main interpretations analyzed in this paper are: exchange of essences and exchange of haecceities. It is argued that adopting the essentialist approach leads to the conclusion, contrary to the conventional wisdom, that quantum particles of the same type are sometimes discernible by their properties. The indiscernibility thesis can be supported only by the alternative interp…Read more
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91Causes, conditions and counterfactualsAxiomathes 15 (4): 599-619. 2005.The article deals with one particular problem created by the counterfactual analysis of causality à la Lewis, namely the context-sensitivity problem or, as I prefer to call it, the background condition problem. It appears that Lewis’ counterfactual definition of causality cannot distinguish between proper causes and mere causal conditions – i.e. factors necessary for the effect to occur, but commonly not seen as causally efficacious. The proposal is put forward to amend the Lewis definition with…Read more
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87Three-valued logic, indeterminacy and quantum mechanicsJournal of Philosophical Logic 30 (2): 97-119. 2001.The paper consists of two parts. The first part begins with the problem of whether the original three-valued calculus, invented by J. Łukasiewicz, really conforms to his philosophical and semantic intuitions. I claim that one of the basic semantic assumptions underlying Łukasiewicz's three-valued logic should be that if under any possible circumstances a sentence of the form "X will be the case at time t" is true (resp. false) at time t, then this sentence must be already true (resp. false) at p…Read more
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28On Some Troubles with the Metaphysics of Fermionic CompositionsFoundations of Physics 46 (9): 1168-1184. 2016.In this paper I discuss some metaphysical consequences of an unorthodox approach to the problem of the identity and individuality of “indistinguishable” quantum particles. This approach is based on the assumption that the only admissible way of individuating separate components of a given system is with the help of the permutation-invariant qualitative properties of the total system. Such a method of individuation, when applied to fermionic compositions occupying so-called GMW-nonentangled state…Read more
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Jakościowe teorie czasoprzestrzeniFilozofia Nauki 4. 1995.This is an attempt to formulate (along the line of H. Field's nominalization program) purely qualitative versions of two theories of space time: Galilean and Minkowskian theories. The starting point is to present qualitative theory for affine geometry, which is based only on one primitive predicate: „between”. Then it is shown that with the help of this predicate whole mathematical structure of affine geometry can be reconstructed as a simple definitional extension. As a next step it is shown in…Read more
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145Dispositional Monism and the Circularity ObjectionMetaphysica 11 (1): 39-47. 2010.Three basic positions regarding the nature of fundamental properties are: dispositional monism, categorical monism and the mixed view. Dispositional monism apparently involves a regress or circularity, while an unpalatable consequence of categorical monism and the mixed view is that they are committed to quidditism. I discuss Alexander Bird's defence of dispositional monism based on the structuralist approach to identity. I argue that his solution does not help standard dispositional essentialis…Read more
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