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45Identity, Individuality and IndiscernibilityProceedings of the Xxii World Congress of Philosophy 15 167-173. 2008.This paper deals with the identity and individuality of material objects. In particular, the view that identity is derivative on the qualities of things, based on the endorsement of the Principle of the Identity of the Indiscernibles, is studied in detail. This provides what seems to be a much-needed unitary look at, and up-to-date critical analysis of, the vast literature on the Identity of the Indiscernibles. It is concluded that the ‘reductionist’ view, dating back to Quine and, earlier, to L…Read more
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40Individual particles, properties and quantum statisticsIn Mauricio Suarez, Mauro Dorato & Miklos Redei (eds.), EPSA Philosophical Issues in the Sciences · Launch of the European Philosophy of Science Association, Springer. pp. 175--185. 2007.Although there have been several attempts to resist this conclusion, it is commonly held that the peculiar statistical behaviour of quantum particles is due to their non-individuality. In this paper, a new suggestion is put forward: quantum particles are individuals, and the distinctive features of quantum statistics are determined by the fact that all the state-dependent properties described by quantum statistics are emergent relations
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30Truth and success, again: Reply to Held on generalist versus particularist (anti-) realismThe Reasoner 6 (6). 2012.A reply to Held's response to a previous critical note.
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29Review of: Anjan Chakravartty, A Metaphysics for Scientific Realism (review)Philosophy in Review 29 (2): 86-88. 2009.A review of Anjan Chakravartty's book putting forward a metaphysical background for scientific realism.
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29Identity in Physics: Properties, Statistics and the (Non-) Individuality of Quantum ParticlesIn Henk W. de Regt (ed.), Epsa Philosophy of Science: Amsterdam 2009, Springer. pp. 227--237. 2012.An argument to the effect that non-relativistic quantum particles can be understood as individual objects in spite of the empirical evidence seemingly lending support to the opposite conclusion. Ways to understand quantum indistinguishability and quantum statistics in terms of individuals are indicated.
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25Truth and Success: Reply to HeldThe Reasoner 5 (7): 106-107. 2011.A reply to Carsten Held's Analysis paper arguing for the unworkability of the traditional scientific realist inference from the success of scientific theories to their (probable) truth.
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15Interpreting Quantum Entanglement: Steps towards Coherentist Quantum MechanicsBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 72 (3): 865-891. 2021.We put forward a new, ‘coherentist’ account of quantum entanglement, according to which entangled systems are characterized by symmetric relations of ontological dependence among the component particles. We compare this coherentist viewpoint with the two most popular alternatives currently on offer—structuralism and holism—and argue that it is essentially different from, and preferable to, both. In the course of this article, we point out how coherentism might be extended beyond the case of enta…Read more
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12Esfeld and Deckert's A Minimalist Ontology of the Natural World (review)BJPS Review of Books. 2018.
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9The Metaphysics of Individuality and the SciencesIn Thomas Pradeu & Alexandre Guay (eds.), Individuals Across the Sciences, Oxford University Press. 2016.This chapter has a twofold aim. First, to look at the debate about identity and individuality in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics and offer a limited defense of the view according to which identity facts are primitive in that domain. Second, to contribute to the clarification of the relationship between science and metaphysics, in particular with respect to what a proper “naturalistic” methodology should and should not be taken to entail as far as the theme of individuality is concerned. The gu…Read more
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4Naturalism and Realism in the Philosophy ScienceIn Kelly James Clark (ed.), The Blackwell Companion to Naturalism, Wiley. 2016.I discuss naturalism in the philosophy of science, with a special focus on the issue of scientific realism. After introducing the theme of naturalism in more general terms, I critically assess whether and how the debate over scientific realism lends itself to a naturalistic approach. I then carry out an analogous inquiry with respect to the relationship between metaphysics and science – a careful analysis of which appears to be particularly important from the point of view of the scientific real…Read more
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4Identity of the IndiscerniblesIn F. Russo & Jon Williamson (eds.), Key Terms in Logic, . pp. 33. 2010.
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Is Time Unreal?In Alessandra Campo & Simone Gozzano (eds.), Einstein Vs. Bergson: An Enduring Quarrel on Time, De Gruyter. pp. 35-52. 2021.