-
39This paper addresses the question ‘what is an organism?’. Extant theories of organismality only provide a partial answer because they do not include an account of composition on which an ontology of living entities can be based. Here we develop a new account of what organisms are, based on a naturalistic answer to the special composition question, the bound state view. We argue that physical structure, including the existence of a boundary, is essential for life, and that, therefore, organisms a…Read more
-
13
-
23A Comparison of Identity in Physics and MathematicsIn Bartosz Brożek, Janusz Mączka & Wojciech P. Grygiel (eds.), Philosophy in science: methods and applications, Copernicus Center Press. 2011.
-
617The principle of the identity of indiscernibles and quantum mechanicsPhilosophy of Science 77 (1): 117-136. 2010.It is argued that recent discussion of the principle of the identity of indiscernibles (PII) and quantum mechanics has lost sight of the broader philosophical motivation and significance of PII and that the `received view' of the status of PII in the light of quantum mechanics survives recent criticisms of it by Muller, Saunders, and Seevinck.
-
The epistemology of constructive empiricismIn Bradley John Monton (ed.), Images of empiricism: essays on science and stances, with a reply from Bas C. van Fraassen, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
Ontic structural realism and the philosophy of physicsIn James Ladyman & Don Ross (eds.), Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
1Rainforest realism and the unity of scienceIn James Ladyman & Don Ross (eds.), Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
Conclusion : philosophy enoughIn James Ladyman & Don Ross (eds.), Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
Causation in a structural worldIn James Ladyman & Don Ross (eds.), Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
3Scientific realism, constructive empiricism, and structuralismIn James Ladyman & Don Ross (eds.), Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
4In defence of scientismIn James Ladyman & Don Ross (eds.), Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalized, Oxford University Press. 2007.
-
48This paper investigates the formation and propagation of wavefunction `branches' through the process of entanglement with the environment. While this process is a consequence of unitary dynamics, and hence significant to many if not all approaches to quantum theory, it plays a central role in many recent articulations of the Everett or `many worlds' interpretation. A highly idealized model of a locally interacting system and environment is described, and investigated in several situations in whi…Read more
-
Structure not selectionIn Timothy D. Lyons & Peter Vickers (eds.), Contemporary Scientific Realism: The Challenge From the History of Science, Oxford University Press. 2021.
-
244Effective Ontic Structural RealismBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science. forthcoming.Three accounts of effective realism (ER) have been advanced to solve three problems for scientific realism: Fraser and Vickers (forthcoming) develop a version of ER about non-relativistic quantum mechanics that they argue is compatible with all the main realist versions (‘interpretations’) of quantum mechanics avoiding the problem of underdetermination among them; Williams (2019) and Fraser (2020b) propose ER about quantum field theory as a response to the problems facing realist interpretations…Read more
-
156Reply in Book Symposium on James Ladyman, Don Ross: 'Everything must go: metaphysics naturalized', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
-
5What Is a Complex System? vol. 1Yale University Press. 2020.A clear, concise introduction to the quickly growing field of complexity science that explains its conceptual and mathematical foundations What is a complex system? Although “complexity science” is used to understand phenomena as diverse as the behavior of honeybees, the economic markets, the human brain, and the climate, there is no agreement about its foundations. In this introduction for students, academics, and general readers, philosopher of science James Ladyman and physicist Karoline Wies…Read more
-
138Identity in HoTT, Part IPhilosophia Mathematica 23 (3): 386-406. 2015.Homotopy type theory is a new branch of mathematics that connects algebraic topology with logic and computer science, and which has been proposed as a new language and conceptual framework for math- ematical practice. Much of the power of HoTT lies in the correspondence between the formal type theory and ideas from homotopy theory, in par- ticular the interpretation of types, tokens, and equalities as spaces, points, and paths. Fundamental to the use of identity and equality in HoTT is the power…Read more
-
241Scientific metaphysics (edited book)Oxford University Press. 2013.Original essays by leading philosophers of science explore the question of whether metaphysics can and should be naturalized--conducted as part of natural science.
-
538Every thing must go: metaphysics naturalizedOxford University Press. 2007.Every Thing Must Go aruges that the only kind of metaphysics that can contribute to objective knowledge is one based specifically on contemporary science as it ...
-
12What has Philosophy Ever Done for Us?In Russell Blackford & Damien Broderick (eds.), Philosophy's Future, Wiley. 2017-04-27.This chapter comments on the past and future of the relationship between science and philosophy, and argues that philosophy and science need each other as much as ever. The particular threat to philosophy of the impact agenda is explained. Various predictions are offered as to how we can expect philosophy to evolve.
-
19Does Homotopy Type Theory Provide a Foundation for Mathematics?British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 69 (2): 377-420. 2018.Homotopy Type Theory (HoTT) is a putative new foundation for mathematics grounded in constructive intensional type theory that offers an alternative to the foundations provided by ZFC set theory and category theory. This article explains and motivates an account of how to define, justify, and think about HoTT in a way that is self-contained, and argues that, so construed, it is a candidate for being an autonomous foundation for mathematics. We first consider various questions that a foundation f…Read more
-
8Weak Physicalism and Special Science OntologyIn Alexander Hieke & Hannes Leitgeb (eds.), Reduction, abstraction, analysis: proceedings of the 31th International Ludwig Wittgenstein-Symposium in Kirchberg, 2008, De Gruyter. pp. 113-126. 2009.
-
40The use of the information-theoretic entropy in thermodynamicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (2): 315-324. 2008.When considering controversial thermodynamic scenarios such as Maxwell's demon, it is often necessary to consider probabilistic mixtures of states. This raises the question of how, if at all, to assign entropy to them. The information-theoretic entropy is often used in such cases; however, no general proof of the soundness of doing so has been given, and indeed some arguments against doing so have been presented. We offer a general proof of the applicability of the information-theoretic entropy …Read more
-
19The connection between logical and thermodynamic irreversibilityStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (1): 58-79. 2006.There has recently been a good deal of controversy about Landauer's Principle, which is often stated as follows: The erasure of one bit of information in a computational device is necessarily accompanied by a generation of kTln2 heat. This is often generalised to the claim that any logically irreversible operation cannot be implemented in a thermodynamically reversible way. John Norton and Owen Maroney both argue that Landauer's Principle has not been shown to hold in general, and Maroney offers…Read more
-
74The connection between logical and thermodynamic irreversibilityStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (1): 58-79. 2007.There has recently been a good deal of controversy about Landauer's Principle, which is often stated as follows: The erasure of one bit of information in a computational device is necessarily accompanied by a generation of kTln2 heat. This is often generalised to the claim that any logically irreversible operation cannot be implemented in a thermodynamically reversible way. John Norton (2005) and Owen Maroney (2005) both argue that Landauer's Principle has not been shown to hold in general, and …Read more
-
432Scientific representation: A long journey from pragmatics to pragmatics Content Type Journal Article DOI 10.1007/s11016-010-9465-5 Authors James Ladyman, Department of Philosophy, University of Bristol, 9 Woodland Rd, Bristol, BS8 1TB UK Otávio Bueno, Department of Philosophy, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL 33124, USA Mauricio Suárez, Department of Logic and Philosophy of Science, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain Bas C. van Fraassen, Philosophy Department, San Francis…Read more
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Physical Science |
General Philosophy of Science |
PhilPapers Editorships
Structural Realism |