-
27Six Measurement Problems of Quantum MechanicsIn Jonas R. B. Arenhart & Raoni W. Arroyo (eds.), Non-Reflexive Logics, Non-Individuals, and the Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics: Essays in Honour of the Philosophy of Décio Krause, Springer Verlag. pp. 225-259. 2023.The notorious ‘measurement problem’ has been roving around quantum mechanics for nearly a century since its inception, and has given rise to a variety of ‘interpretations’ of quantum mechanics, which are meant to evade it. We argue that no less than six problems need to be distinguished, and that several of them classify as different types of problems. One of them is what traditionally is called ‘the measurement problem’. Another of them has nothing to do with measurements but is a profound meta…Read more
-
183Modal-Logical Reconstructions of Thought ExperimentsErkenntnis 2023. 2023.Sorensen (1992) has provided two modal-logical schemas to reconstruct the logical structure of two types of destructive thought experiments: the Necessity Refuter and the Possibility Refuter. The schemas consist of five propositions which Sorensen claims but does not prove to be inconsistent.We show that the five propositions, as presented by Sorensen, are not inconsistent, but by adding a premise (and a logical truth), we prove that the resulting sextet of premises is inconsistent. Häggqvist (2…Read more
-
21The Paradox of the Arche-fossilDialectica 999 (1). 2022.In his influential After Finitude. An Essay on the Necessity of Contingency (2008), Quentin Meillassoux argues that *Correlationism* (an umbrella-term encompassing most varieties of Idealism) gives rise to an irresolvable paradox, called "the Paradox of the Arche-fossil", which is essentially a clash between philosophical principles and scientific findings. This irresolvable paradox of Correlationism then paves the way for the "Speculative Turn" and the ensuing rise of burgeoning "speculative re…Read more
-
11The Case Against Factorism: On the Labels of ⊗\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\otimes$$\end{document}-Factor Hilbert-Spaces of Similar Particles in Quantum Mechanics (review)Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 53 (3): 291-306. 2020.We discuss the case against Factorism, which is the standard assumption in quantum mechanics that the labels of the ⊗\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\otimes$$\end{document}-factor Hilbert-spaces in direct-product Hilbert-spaces of composite physical systems of similar particles refer to particles, eit…Read more
-
1Een hoofdstedelijk dwaallichtAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 108 (4): 515-519. 2016.Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community.
-
45The Influence of Quantum Physics on PhilosophyFoundations of Science 28 (1): 477-488. 2021.We ponder the question whether quantum physics has had any influence on philosophy, and if not, whether it ought to have had any. Answers to these questions are provided, and they turn out to depend on which branch of the tree of philosophy we sweep, sway and swing, and even which twig of the branch we touch when we sweep, sway and swing.
-
29The Case Against Factorism: On the Labels of $$\otimes$$-Factor Hilbert-Spaces of Similar Particles in Quantum MechanicsJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 53 (3): 291-306. 2022.We discuss the case against Factorism, which is the standard assumption in quantum mechanics that the labels of the $$\otimes$$ ⊗ -factor Hilbert-spaces in direct-product Hilbert-spaces of composite physical systems of similar particles refer to particles, either directly or descriptively. We distinguish different versions of Factorism and argue for their truth or falsehood. In particular, by introducing the concepts of snapshot Hilbert-space and Schrödinger-movie, we demonstrate that there are …Read more
-
25Het cognibolistische KeijzerrijkAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 108 (2): 183-187. 2016.Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community.
-
214On Witness-Discernibility of Elementary ParticlesErkenntnis 78 (5): 1133-1142. 2013.In the context of discussions about the nature of ‘identical particles’ and the status of Leibniz’s Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles in Quantum Mechanics, a novel kind of physical discernibility has recently been proposed, which we call witness-discernibility. We inquire into how witness-discernibility relates to known kinds of discernibility. Our conclusion will be that for a wide variety of cases, including the intended quantum-mechanical ones, witness-discernibility collapses exten…Read more
-
93Bound states and the Special Composition QuestionIn Michela Massimi, Jan-Willem Romeijn & Gerhard Schurz (eds.), EPSA15 Selected Papers: The 5th conference of the European Philosophy of Science Association in Düsseldorf, Springer. 2017.The Special Composition Question asks under what conditions a plurality of objects form another, composite object. We propose a condition grounded in our scientific knowledge of physical reality, the essence of which is that objects form a composite object when and only when they are in a bound state – whence our Bound State Proposal. We provide a variety of reasons in favour of a mereological theory that accommodates our Proposal. We consider but reject another proposal, which is quantum-physic…Read more
-
76In Defence of Constructive Empiricism: Maxwell’s Master Argument and Aberrant TheoriesJournal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 39 (1): 131-156. 2008.Over the past years, in books and journals (this journal included), N. Maxwell launched a ferocious attack on B. C. van Fraassen’s view of science called Constructive Empiricism (CE). This attack has been totally ignored. Must we conclude from this silence that no defence is possible and that a fortiori Maxwell has buried CE once and for all? Or is the attack too obviously flawed as not to merit exposure? A careful dissection of Maxwell’s reasoning will make it clear that neither is the case. Th…Read more
-
105Refutability revamped: How quantum mechanics saves the phenomenaErkenntnis 58 (2). 2003.On the basis of the Suppes–Sneed structuralview of scientific theories, we take a freshlook at the concept of refutability,which was famously proposed by K.R. Popper in 1934 as a criterion for the demarcation of scientific theories from non-scientific ones, e.g., pseudo-scientificand metaphysical theories. By way of an introduction we argue that a clash between Popper and his critics on whether scientific theories are, in fact, refutablecan be partly explained by the fact Popper and his criticsa…Read more
-
19Sets, classes, and categories (review)Bulletin of Symbolic Logic 9 (1): 43-43. 2001.Critique of set-theory as a founding theory of category-theory. Proposal of a theory of sets and classes as an adequate founding theory of mathematics and by implication of category-theory. This theory is a slight extension of Ackermann's theory of 1956.
-
87A defence of constructive empiricism against an attack of N. Maxwell by means of his pet-thesis that science implicitly and permanently accepts a metaphysical thesis about the nature of the universe. We argue that Maxwell's attack can be beaten off; that his arguments do not establish what Maxwell believes they establish; and that we can draw a number of valuable lessons from these attacks about the nature of science and of the libertatian nature of constructive empiricism.
-
486Withering away, weaklySynthese 180 (2). 2011.One of the reasons provided for the shift away from an ontology for physical reality of material objects & properties towards one of physical structures & relations (Ontological Structural Realism: OntSR) is that the quantum-mechanical description of composite physical systems of similar elementary particles entails they are indiscernible. As material objects, they 'whither away', and when they wither away, structures emerge in their stead. We inquire into the question whether recent results est…Read more
-
70Essay Review of B.C. van Fraassen's *Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective* (2008).
-
45The characterisation of structure: Definition versus axiomatisationIn Thomas Uebel, Stephan Hartmann, Wenceslao Gonzalez, Marcel Weber, Dennis Dieks & Friedrich Stadler (eds.), The Present Situation in the Philosophy of Science, Springer. pp. 399--416. 2010.
-
17Dikaiologische VerkenningenAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 107 (2): 185-191. 2015.Amsterdam University Press is a leading publisher of academic books, journals and textbooks in the Humanities and Social Sciences. Our aim is to make current research available to scholars, students, innovators, and the general public. AUP stands for scholarly excellence, global presence, and engagement with the international academic community.
-
123The relativity of simultaneity is not a temporal illusionAnalysis 74 (2): 232-233. 2014.In this journal, Brogaard and Marlow recently argued that the relativity of simultaneity is an illusion. We claim their argument is fallacious.
-
200Can a constructive empiricist adopt the concept of observability?Philosophy of Science 71 (1): 80-97. 2004.Alan Musgrave, Michael Friedman, Jeffrey Foss, and Richard Creath raised different objections against the Distinction between observables and unobservables when drawn within the confines of Bas C. van Fraassen's Constructive Empiricism, to the effect that the Distinction cannot be drawn there coherently. Van Fraassen has only responded to Musgrave but Musgrave claimed not to understand van Fraassen's succinct response. I argue that van Fraassen's response is not enough. What remains in the end i…Read more
-
48The Equivalence Myth of Quntum Mechanics (Addendum)Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 30 (4): 543-545. 1999.
-
28Reflections on the revolution at StanfordSynthese 183 (1): 87--114. 2011.We inquire into the question whether the Aristotelean or classical \emph{ideal} of science has been realised by the Model Revolution, initiated at Stanford University during the 1950ies and spread all around the world of philosophy of science --- \emph{salute} P.\ Suppes. The guiding principle of the Model Revolution is: \emph{a scientific theory is a set of structures in the domain of discourse of axiomatic set-theory}, characterised by a set-theoretical predicate. We expound some critical refl…Read more
-
124Inconsistency in classical electrodynamics?Philosophy of Science 74 (2): 253-277. 2007.In a recent issue of this journal, M. Frisch claims to have proven that classical electrodynamics is an inconsistent physical theory. We argue that he has applied classical electrodynamics inconsistently. Frisch also claims that all other classical theories of electromagnetic phenomena, when consistent and in some sense an approximation of classical electrodynamics, are haunted by “serious conceptual problems” that defy resolution. We argue that this claim is based on a partisan if not misleadin…Read more
-
170Discerning FermionsBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 59 (3). 2008.We demonstrate that the quantum-mechanical description of composite physical systems of an arbitrary number of similar fermions in all their admissible states, mixed or pure, for all finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces, is not in conflict with Leibniz's Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles (PII). We discern the fermions by means of physically meaningful, permutation-invariant categorical relations, i.e. relations independent of the quantum-mechanical probabilities. If, indeed, probabilistic…Read more
-
21De denkbewegingen van Harry MulischAlgemeen Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Wijsbegeerte 98 33-56. 2006.
-
168The insidiously enchanted forrest. Essay review of 'Scientific Representation' by Bas C. van FraassenStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 40 (3): 268-272. 2009.
-
208Intentionality Versus Constructive EmpiricismErkenntnis 76 (1): 91-100. 2012.By focussing on the intentional character of observation in science, we argue that Constructive Empiricism—B.C. van Fraassen’s much debated and explored view of science—is inconsistent. We then argue there are at least two ways out of our Inconsistency Argument, one of which is more easily to square with Constructive Empiricism than the other