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132Looking for structure in all the wrong places: Ramsey sentences, multiple realisability, and structureStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 37 (4): 633-655. 2006.‘Epistemic structural realism’ (ESR) insists that all that we know of the world is its structure, and that the ‘nature’ of the underlying elements remains hidden. With structure represented via Ramsey sentences, the question arises as to how ‘hidden natures’ might also be represented. If the Ramsey sentence describes a class of realisers for the relevant theory, one way of answering this question is through the notion of multiple realisability. We explore this answer in the context of the work o…Read more
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259Identity and individuality in classical and quantum physicsAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 67 (4). 1989.This Article does not have an abstract
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15Travelling in New DirectionsIn Steven French & Juha Saatsi (eds.), Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Science, Continuum. pp. 337. 2011.This chapter discusses some emerging trends, new directions, and outstanding issues in philosophy of science. The first section places contemporary philosophy of science in context by considering its relationship to analytic philosophy at large, to the history of science, and to science itself. The subsequent sections will then take a look at a selection of interesting trends emerging from current research, and some important issues calling for further work. The presentation is inevitably colour…Read more
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19Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics: Essays in Honour of Heinz Post (edited book)Kluwer Academic Publishers. 1993.This volume is presented in honour of Heinz Post, who founded a distinc tive and distinguished school of philosophy of science at Chelsea College, University of London. The 'Chelsea tradition' in philosophy of science takes the content of science seriously, as exemplified by the papers presented here. The unifying theme of this work is that of 'Correspondence, Invariance and Heuristics', after the title of a classic and seminal paper by Heinz Post, published in 1971, which is reproduced in this …Read more
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44Semantic perspective on idealization in quantum mechanicsPoznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 63 51-74. 1998.
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10W. E. HERFEL, W. KRAJEWSKI,, I. NIINILUOTO, AND R. WÓJCICKI (Eds.), Theories and Models in Scientific Processes. Poznań Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities, Vol. 44, Amsterdam/Atlanta, Rodopi, 1995British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 47 (4): 658-662. 1996.
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161A phenomenological solution to the measurement problem? Husserl and the foundations of quantum mechanicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 33 (3): 467-491. 2002.The London and Bauer monograph occupies a central place in the debate concerning the quantum measurement problem. Gavroglu has previously noted the influence of Husserlian phenomenology on London's scientific work. However, he has not explored the full extent of this influence in the monograph itself. I begin this paper by outlining the important role played by the monograph in the debate. In effect, it acted as a kind of 'lens' through which the standard, or Copenhagen, 'solution' to the measur…Read more
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149Quantum sortal predicatesSynthese 154 (3). 2007.Sortal predicates have been associated with a counting process, which acts as a criterion of identity for the individuals they correctly apply to. We discuss in what sense certain types of predicates suggested by quantum physics deserve the title of ‘sortal’ as well, although they do not characterize either a process of counting or a criterion of identity for the entities that fall under them. We call such predicates ‘quantum-sortal predicates’ and, instead of a process of counting, to them is a…Read more
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258The model-theoretic approach in the philosophy of sciencePhilosophy of Science 57 (2): 248-265. 1990.An introduction to the model-theoretic approach in the philosophy of science is given and it is argued that this program is further enhanced by the introduction of partial structures. It is then shown that this leads to a natural and intuitive account of both "iconic" and mathematical models and of the role of the former in science itself
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213Keeping quiet on the ontology of modelsSynthese 172 (2): 231-249. 2010.Stein once urged us not to confuse the means of representation with that which is being represented. Yet that is precisely what philosophers of science appear to have done at the meta-level when it comes to representing the practice of science. Proponents of the so-called ‘syntactic’ view identify theories as logically closed sets of sentences or propositions and models as idealised interpretations, or ‘theoruncula, as Braithwaite called them. Adherents of the ‘semantic’ approach, on the other h…Read more
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60The Theoretical Practices of Physics: Philosophical Essays * By R.I.G. HUGHESAnalysis 70 (3): 601-603. 2010.(No abstract is available for this citation)
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63Falkenburg Brigitte, Particle Metaphysics: A Critical Account of Subatomic Reality , Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg/New York (2007) pp. xvii+386Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 40 (2): 194-195. 2009.
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88Continuum Companion to the Philosophy of Science (edited book)Continuum. 2011.A one volume reference guide To The latest research in Philosophy of Science, written by an international team of leading scholars in the field.
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Symmetry, Invariance and ReferenceiIn W. K. Essler & M. Frauchiger (eds.), Representation, Evidence, and Justification: Themes From Suppes, Ontos Verlag. pp. 2--127. 2008.
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194Realism and its representational vehiclesSynthese 194 (9): 3311-3326. 2017.In this essay I shall focus on the adoption of the Semantic Approach by structural realists, including myself, who have done so on the grounds that it wears its structuralist sympathies on its sleeve. Despite this, the SA has been identified as standing in tension with the ontological commitments of the so-called ’ontic’ form of this view and so I shall explore that tension before discussing the usefulness of the SA in framing scientific representation and concluding with a discussion of the imp…Read more
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277Models, Theories, and Structures: Thirty Years onPhilosophy of Science 67 (S1). 2000.Thirty years after the conference that gave rise to The Structure of Scientific Theories, there is renewed interest in the nature of theories and models. However, certain crucial issues from thirty years ago are reprised in current discussions; specifically: whether the diversity of models in the science can be captured by some unitary account; and whether the temporal dimension of scientific practice can be represented by such an account. After reviewing recent developments we suggest that thes…Read more
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306A green Parrot is just as much a red Herring as a white shoe: A note on confirmation, background knowledge and the logico-probabilistic approachBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 39 (4): 531-535. 1988.
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149Vague Identity and Quantum Non-IndividualityAnalysis 55 (1). 1995.Lowe has recently argued that quantum particles offer examples of vague objects. While accepting the premise of the argument that such particles can be regarded as individuals, we point out that there is a lacuna here, to be filled by a detailed analysis of the nature of the entangled states which they enter into. We then elaborate the alternative view, according to which such particles should be regarded as non- individuals' and situate it in the context of recent developments of a logic of non…Read more
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86On Russell's principle of inductionSynthese 86 (2): 285-295. 1991.An improvement on Horwich's so-called pseudo-proof of Russell 's principle of induction is offered, which, we believe, avoids certain objections to the former. Although strictly independent of our other work in this area, a connection can be made and in the final section we comment on this and certain questions regarding rationality, etc
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407The interdependence of structure, objects and dependenceSynthese 175 (S1). 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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82Doing Away with Dispositions: Powers in the Context of Modern PhysicsIn Meincke (ed.), Dispositionalism. Perspectives from Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science, Springer. pp. 189-212. 2021.I first outline the standard dispositionalist account and indicate how this account has been extended from the everyday to the realm of modern physics – from vases to quarks, in effect. Here I note a fundamental obstacle: the role of symmetries as constraints on the fundamental laws in physics. One of the great virtues of the standard dispositionalist account is that it supposedly yields laws from dispositions but it remains unclear, at best, how it can accommodate such symmetry principles. I th…Read more
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79Symmetry, structure, and the constitution of objectsPhilSci Archive. 2001.In this paper I focus on the impact on structuralism of the quantum treatment of objects in terms of symmetry groups and, in particular, on the question as to how we might eliminate, or better, reconceptualise such objects in structural terms. With regard to the former, both Cassirer and Eddington not only explicitly and famously tied their structuralism to the development of group theory but also drew on the quantum treatment in order to further their structuralist aims and here I sketch the re…Read more
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312Reinflating the semantic approachInternational Studies in the Philosophy of Science 13 (2). 1999.The semantic, or model-theoretic, approach to theories has recently come under criticism on two fronts: (i) it is claimed that it cannot account for the wide diversity of models employed in scientific practice—a claim which has led some to propose a “deflationary” account of models; (ii) it is further contended that the sense of “model” used by the approach differs from that given in model theory. Our aim in the present work is to articulate a possible response to these claims, drawing on recent…Read more
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121Austere Realism: Contextual Semantics Meets Minimal Ontology – Terence Horgan and Matjaž Potrč (review)Philosophical Quarterly 61 (242): 201-202. 2011.
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94Quantum Sortal PredicatesSynthese 154 (3). 2007.Sortal predicates have been associated with a counting process, which acts as a criterion of identity for the individuals they correctly apply to. We discuss in what sense certain types of predicates suggested by quantum physics deserve the title of 'sortal' as well, although they do not characterize either a process of counting or a criterion of identity for the entities that fall under them. We call such predicates 'quantum-sortal predicates' and, instead of a process of counting, to them is a…Read more
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Metaphysics and Epistemology |
Science, Logic, and Mathematics |