•  48
    The paper discusses the recent literature on abstraction/idealization in connection with the “paradox of infinite idealization.” We use the case of taking thermodynamics limit in dealing with the phenomena of phase transition and critical phenomena to broach the subject. We then argue that the method of infinite idealization is widely used in the practice of science, and not all uses of the method are the same. We then confront the compatibility problem of infinite idealization with scientific r…Read more
  •  39
    Infinite idealization and contextual realism
    Synthese 196 (5): 1885-1918. 2019.
    The paper discusses the recent literature on abstraction/idealization in connection with the “paradox of infinite idealization.” We use the case of taking thermodynamics limit in dealing with the phenomena of phase transition and critical phenomena to broach the subject. We then argue that the method of infinite idealization is widely used in the practice of science, and not all uses of the method are the same. We then confront the compatibility problem of infinite idealization with scientific r…Read more
  •  14
    Kripke’s Gödel case: Descriptive ambiguity and its experimental interpretation
    with Chao Ding
    Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 37 (3): 291-308. 2022.
    Kripke has taken the Gödel case as a counterexample for reference descriptivism. Machery et al. question the validity of Kripke’s case and had conducted empirical studies to show its inadequacy. Experimental data suggest intuitions on this matter vary both across and within cultures. However, there is a descriptive ambiguity, we argue, in Kripke’s Gödel case, for people associate different types of descriptions with proper names, such as the description of brute facts and the description of soci…Read more
  •  2
    This volume contains the contributed papers of invitees to SEMS 2012 who have also given talks at the conference. The invitees are experts in philosophy of science and technology from Asia (besides China), Australia, Europe, Latin America, North America, as well as from within China. The papers in this volume represent the latest work of each researcher in his or her expertise; and as a result, they give a good representation of the cutting-edge researches in diverse areas in different parts of …Read more
  •  5
    Fictional models in science -- The hypothetical versus the fictional -- What is wrong with the new fictionalism of scientific models? -- Re-inflating the conception of scientific representation -- Idealization, confirmation, and scientific realism -- Laws and models in a theory of idealization -- Approximation and its measures -- Approximation, idealization, and the laws of nature -- Coordination of space and unity of science -- Gauge gravity and the unification of natural forces -- Models and t…Read more
  •  40
    This paper aims at answering the simple question `what is spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB)?` by analyzing from a philosophical perspective a simple classical model which exhibits all the requisite properties of SSB. Related questions include: what does it mean to say that a symmetry is spontaneously broken? Is it broken without any cause, or is the symmetry not broken but merely hidden? Is the meta-principle, `no asymmetry in, no asymmetry out,` violated by SSB? And what is the role in this o…Read more
  •  75
    Spontaneous symmetry breaking and chance in a classical world
    Philosophy of Science 70 (3): 590-608. 2003.
    This essay explores the nature of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) in connection with a cluster of interrelated concepts such as Curie's symmetry principle, ergodicity, and chance and stability in classical systems. First, a clarification of the two existing senses of SSB is provided and an argument developed for a proposal for SSB, in which not only the possibilities but also the actual breakings are referred to. Second, a detailed analysis is given of classical SSB that answers the question…Read more
  •  120
    Is there a relativistic thermodynamics? A case study of the meaning of special relativity
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 25 (6): 983-1004. 1994.
  •  53
    I argue that categorical realism, contrary to what most believe today, holds for quantum (and indeed for all) objects and substances. The main argument consists of two steps: (i) the recent experimental verification of the AB effect gives strong empirical evidence for taking quantum potentials as physically real (or substantival), which suggests a change of the data upon which any viable interpretation of quantum theory must rely, and (ii) quantum potentials may be consistently taken as the cate…Read more
  •  92
    Infinite systems in SM explanations: Thermodynamic limit, renormalization (semi-) groups, and irreversibility
    Proceedings of the Philosophy of Science Association 2001 (3). 2001.
    This paper examines the justifications for using infinite systems to 'recover' thermodynamic properties, such as phase transitions (PT), critical phenomena (CP), and irreversibility, from the micro-structure of matter in bulk. Section 2 is a summary of such rigorous methods as in taking the thermodynamic limit (TL) to recover PT and in using renormalization (semi-) group approach (RG) to explain the universality of critical exponents. Section 3 examines various possible justifications for taking…Read more
  •  132
    Holism vs. particularism: A lesson from classical and quantum physics (review)
    Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 27 (2): 267-279. 1996.
    The present essay aims at broadening the recent discussion on the issue of holism vs. particularism in quantum physics. I begin with a clarification of the relation between the holism/particularism debate and the discussion of supervenience relation. I then defend particularism in physics (including quantum physics) by considering a new classification of properties of physical systems. With such a classification, the results in the Bell theorem are shown to violate spatial separability but not p…Read more
  •  14
    The paper first raises the problem concerning the confirmation of idealized theories in science and its relationship to scientific realism. Then a solution by Laymon is discussed. It is then argued that two different types of idealization need to be distinguished and that only one of them produces false theories. But then, such “theories” are really theory-maps, which point to theories at the end of improvements. Finally, Laymon’s account is modified in accordance with the above insight.
  •  102
    Gauge gravity and the unification of natural forces
    International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 17 (2). 2001.
    Physics seems to tell us that there are four fundamental force-fields in nature: the gravitational, the electromagnetic, the weak, and the strong (or interactions). But it also seems to tell us that gravity cannot possibly be a force-field, in the same sense as the other three are. And yet the search for a grand unification of all four force-fields is today one of the hottest pursuits. Is this the result of a simple confusion? This article aims at clarifying this situation by (i) reviewing the g…Read more
  •  7
    Decoherence and Idealization in Quantum Measurement
    Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 63 75-98. 1998.
  •  616
    Two types of idealization in theory construction are distinguished, and the distinction is used to give a critique of Ron Laymon's account of confirming idealized theories and his argument for scientific realism.
  •  10
    The Logic of Thermostatistical Physics
    with Gerard G. Emch
    Springer Verlag. 2002.
    This book is devoted to a thorough analysis of the role that models play in the practise of physical theory. The authors, a mathematical physicist and a philosopher of science, appeal to the logicians’ notion of model theory as well as to the concepts of physicists.
  •  51
    This paper, part I of a two-part project, aims at answering the simple question 'what is spontaneous symmetry breaking?' by analyzing from a philosophical perspective a simple classical model. Related questions include: what does it mean to break a symmetry spontaneously? Is the breaking causal, or is the symmetry not broken but merely hidden? Is the meta-principle, 'no asymmetry in, no asymmetry out,' violated? And what is the role in this of random perturbations (or fluctuations)?
  •  14
    This paper contains four variations on Duhem's theme about the contrast between the abstract French mind and the concrete British mind. The first variation brings out the real contrast between two types of methods and their results: the A method or models and the C method or models. The second variation gives a critical discussion of the Callender-Cohen deflationary contruel of scientific representation. The third variation discusses Russell's structuralism in connection to the theme. And the fo…Read more
  •  30
    This paper, part II of a two-part project, continues to explore the meaning of spontaneous symmetry breaking (SSB) by applying and expanding the general notion we obtained in part I to some more complex and, from the physics point of view, more important models (in condensed matter physics and in quantum field theories).
  •  113
    Models and theories I: The semantic view revisited
    International Studies in the Philosophy of Science 11 (2). 1997.
    The paper, as Part I of a two-part series, argues for a hybrid formulation of the semantic view of scientific theories. For stage-setting, it first reviews the elements of the model theory in mathematical logic (on whose foundation the semantic view rests), the syntactic and the semantic view, and the different notions of models used in the practice of science. The paper then argues for an integration of the notions into the semantic view, and thereby offers a hybrid semantic view, which at once…Read more
  •  85
    Symbolic versus Modelistic Elements in Scientific Modeling
    Theoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 30 (2): 287. 2015.
    In this paper, we argue that symbols are conventional vehicles whose chief function is denotation, while models are epistemic vehicles, and their chief function is to show what their targets are like in the relevant aspects. And we explain why this is incompatible with the deflationary view on scientific modeling. Although the same object may serve both functions, the two vehicles are conceptually distinct and most models employ both elements. With the clarification of this point we offer an alt…Read more
  • Relativistic Thermodynamics: Its History and Foundations
    Dissertation, University of Pittsburgh. 1991.
    Relativistic Thermodynamics of equilibrium processes has remained a strange chapter in the history of modern physics. It was established by Planck in 1908 as a simple application of Einstein's special theory of relativity. Einstein himself made substantial contributions and its final product remained officially unchallenged until 1965. In 1952, however, at the end of his career, Einstein challenged the theory in his correspondence with von Laue. Many of his unpublished suggestions anticipated th…Read more
  •  198
    The aharonov-Bohm effect and the reality of wave packets
    British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 45 (4): 977-1000. 1994.
    The objective of this paper is to show that, instead of quantum probabilities, wave packets are physically real. First, Cartwright's recent argument for the reality of quantum probabilities is criticized. Then, the notion of ‘physically real’ is precisely defined and the difference between wave functions and quantum probabilities clarified. Being thus prepared, some strong reasons are discussed for considering the wave packet to be physically real. Finding the reasons inconclusive, I explain how…Read more
  •  37
    In this paper I explore the nature of spontaneous symmetry breaking in connection with a cluster of interrelated concepts such as Curie's symmetry principle, chance, and stability.
  •  100
    The arrow of time in quantum gravity
    Philosophy of Science 60 (4): 619-637. 1993.
    This essay is a philosophical evaluation of some of the findings of Wald and Penrose in which they claim to have supported an arrow (or the irreversibility) of time in quantum gravity. First, the notion of lawlike irreversibility (or anisotropy) of time is spelled out, then the general situation in quantum mechanics is briefly discussed. Finally, the findings in quantum gravity are evaluated against such a background. My conclusion is that the arrow of time found in quantum gravity is at best de…Read more
  •  93
    Our discussion in the first five sections shows that little new can be said about compatibilism, that van Inwagen's argument for incompatibilism still stands, and that the view of free agency for a libertarian has little chance unless she believes that agency contains elements that are not within the natural order. Borrowing from a suggestion from Russell we expanded the Nozick-Kane model of libertarian free agency and connected it to the Wignerian interpretation of quantum measurement. As such,…Read more
  •  28
    This paper examines the justifications for using infinite systems to ‘recover’ thermodynamic properties, such as phase transitions, critical phenomena, and irreversibility, from the micro-structure of matter in bulk. Section 2 is a summary of such rigorous methods as in taking the thermodynamic limit to recover PT and in using renormalization group approach to explain the universality of critical exponents. Section 3 examines various possible justifications for taking TL on physically finite sys…Read more
  •  96
    Explaining the emergence of cooperative phenomena
    Philosophy of Science 66 (3): 106. 1999.
    Phase transitions are well-understood phenomena in thermodynamics (TD), but it turns out that they are mathematically impossible in finite SM systems. Hence, phase transitions are truly emergent properties. They appear again at the thermodynamic limit (TL), i.e., in infinite systems. However, most, if not all, systems in which they occur are finite, so whence comes the justification for taking TL? The problem is then traced back to the TD characterization of phase transitions, and it turns out t…Read more