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44Da Costa and French explore the consequences of adopting a 'pragmatic' notion of truth in the philosophy of science. Their framework sheds new light on issues to do with belief, theory acceptance, and the realism-antirealism debate, as well as the nature of scientific models and their heuristic development.
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78Pragmatic Truth and the Logic of InductionBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 40 (3): 333-356. 1989.We apply the recently elaborated notions of 'pragmatic truth' and 'pragmatic probability' to the problem of the construction of a logic of inductive inference. It is argued that the system outlined here is able to overcome many of the objections usually levelled against such attempts. We claim, furthermore, that our view captures the essentially cumulative nature of science and allows us to explain why it is indeed reasonable to accept and believe in the conclusions reached by inductive inferenc…Read more
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24Steven Weinberg, facing up: Science and its cultural adversaries. Cambridge, ma and London: Harvard university press, 2001. Pp. XI+283. Isbn 0-674-00647-X. £17.95, $26.00 (review)British Journal for the History of Science 37 (4): 491-492. 2004.
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12Partial Structures and the Logic of Azande DOI: 10.5007/1808-1711.2011v15n1p77Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology 15 (1): 77-105. 2011.In Science and Partial Truth it was argued that inconsistencies in scientific reasoning may be accommodated by the combination of partial structures and quasi-truth, together with a notion of ‘representational belief’. In this paper I shall examine whether this framework can be extended to the reasonings and beliefs of other cultures, focusing in particular on the witchcraft beliefs of Azande. I shall argue that these beliefs are akin to the theoretical beliefs of Western science but that the mo…Read more
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34Gerhard Schurz: Philosophy of Science—A Unified ApproachJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 46 (1): 241-243. 2015.Professor Schurz has written a book that is ambitious in both scope and aims. It begins with an introductory chapter on the historical development and general aims of the philosophy of science itself, moves on to issues associated with establishing a basis for a unified approach to science, with extensive consideration of the conceptual toolkit required, then takes us through chapters on laws and empirical testing, the empirical evaluation of theories more generally, including issues of realism …Read more
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6Facing Up: Science and Its Cultural Adversaries (review)British Journal for the History of Science 37 (4): 491-492. 2004.
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Infestation or pest control: the introduction of group theory into quantum mechanicsManuscrito 22 (2): 37-68. 1999.
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98Models and mathematics in physics: The role of group theoryIn Jeremy Butterfield & Constantine Pagonis (eds.), From Physics to Philosophy, Cambridge University Press. pp. 187--207. 1999.
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17Belief, contradiction and the logic of self-deceptionAmerican Philosophical Quarterly 27 (3): 179-197. 1990.
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105Suppes predicates for space-timeSynthese 112 (2): 271-279. 1997.We formulate Suppes predicates for various kinds of space-time: classical Euclidean, Minkowski's, and that of General Relativity. Starting with topological properties, these continua are mathematically constructed with the help of a basic algebra of events; this algebra constitutes a kind of mereology, in the sense of Lesniewski. There are several alternative, possible constructions, depending, for instance, on the use of the common field of reals or of a non-Archimedian field. Our approach was …Read more
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108Review. An essay on contraction. A FuhrmannBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 51 (3): 513-517. 2000.
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206On representing the relationship between the mathematical and the empiricalPhilosophy of Science 69 (3): 497-518. 2002.We examine, from the partial structures perspective, two forms of applicability of mathematics: at the “bottom” level, the applicability of theoretical structures to the “appearances”, and at the “top” level, the applicability of mathematical to physical theories. We argue that, to accommodate these two forms of applicability, the partial structures approach needs to be extended to include a notion of “partial homomorphism”. As a case study, we present London's analysis of the superfluid behavio…Read more
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41The interdependence of structure, objects and dependenceSynthese 175 (S1): 89-109. 2010.According to ‘Ontic Structural Realism’ (OSR), physical objects—qua metaphysical entities—should be reconceptualised, or, more strongly, eliminated in favour of the relevant structures. In this paper I shall attempt to articulate the relationship between these putative objects and structures in terms of certain accounts of metaphysical dependence currently available. This will allow me to articulate the differences between the different forms of OSR and to argue in favour of the ‘eliminativist’ …Read more
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61Empirical factors and structure transference: Returning to the London accountStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 43 (2): 95-104. 2012.
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197Models and structures: Phenomenological and partialStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 43 (1): 43-46. 2012.In a recent paper, Suárez and Cartwright return to the example of London and London's construction of a model for superconductivity and raise a number of concerns against the account of this construction presented in French and Ladyman and elsewhere. In this discussion note, we examine the challenge they raised and offer our responses.
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290Can Mathematics Explain Physical Phenomena?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 63 (1): 85-113. 2012.Batterman raises a number of concerns for the inferential conception of the applicability of mathematics advocated by Bueno and Colyvan. Here, we distinguish the various concerns, and indicate how they can be assuaged by paying attention to the nature of the mappings involved and emphasizing the significance of interpretation in this context. We also indicate how this conception can accommodate the examples that Batterman draws upon in his critique. Our conclusion is that ‘asymptotic reasoning’ …Read more
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Quantum objects are vague objectsSorites 6 (1): 21--33. 1996.Is there vagueness in the world? This is the central question that we are concerned with. Focusing on identity statements around which much of the recent debate has centred, we argue that `vague identity' arises in quantum mechanics in one of two ways. First, quantum particles may be described as individuals, with `entangled' states understood in terms of non-supervenient relations. In this case, the vagueness is ontic but exists at the level of these relations which act as a kind of `veil'. Sec…Read more
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Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Science, Logic, and Mathematics |