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11Book review: explaining chaos (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (1): 201-205. 2001.Review of: Peter Smith, Explaining chaos. Cambridge: Cambridge univeristy Press, 1998. ISBN 0 521 47747 6.
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17On de Finetti’s instrumentalist philosophy of probabilityEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science 9 (2): 1-48. 2019.De Finetti is one of the founding fathers of the subjective school of probability. He held that probabilities are subjective, coherent degrees of expectation, and he argued that none of the objective interpretations of probability make sense. While his theory has been influential in science and philosophy, it has encountered various objections. I argue that these objections overlook central aspects of de Finetti’s philosophy of probability and are largely unfounded. I propose a new interpretatio…Read more
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66On de Finetti’s instrumentalist philosophy of probabilityEuropean Journal for Philosophy of Science 9 (2): 25. 2019.De Finetti is one of the founding fathers of the subjective school of probability. He held that probabilities are subjective, coherent degrees of expectation, and he argued that none of the objective interpretations of probability make sense. While his theory has been influential in science and philosophy, it has encountered various objections. I argue that these objections overlook central aspects of de Finetti’s philosophy of probability and are largely unfounded. I propose a new interpretatio…Read more
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38On time, causation and explanation in the causally symmetric Bohmian model of quantum mechanicsIn Philippe Huneman & Christophe Bouton (eds.), Time of Nature and the Nature of Time: Philosophical Perspectives of Time in Natural Sciences, Springer. pp. 139-172. 2017.Quantum mechanics portrays the universe as involving non-local influences that are difficult to reconcile with relativity theory. By postulating backward causation, retro-causal interpretations of quantum mechanics could circumvent these influences and accordingly reconcile quantum mechanics with relativity. The postulation of backward causation poses various challenges for the retro-causal interpretations of quantum mechanics and for the existing conceptual frameworks for analyzing counterfactu…Read more
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35On Supernatural Miracles and Laws of NatureToronto Journal of Theology 28 (1): 145-152. 2012.Robert Larmer and Alvin Plantinga have argued that modern physics is compatible with the idea that the physical universe is open to God’s supernatural action and that such action would not involve any violation of laws of nature. Thus, they have concluded that supernatural miracles are compatible with modern science. I argue that their line of reasoning is based on an incorrect interpretation of conservation laws and that supernatural miracles would involve violations of laws of nature.
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65The ergodic hierarchy, randomness and Hamiltonian chaosStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 37 (4): 661-691. 2006.Various processes are often classified as both deterministic and random or chaotic. The main difficulty in analysing the randomness of such processes is the apparent tension between the notions of randomness and determinism: what type of randomness could exist in a deterministic process? Ergodic theory seems to offer a particularly promising theoretical tool for tackling this problem by positing a hierarchy, the so-called ‘ergodic hierarchy’, which is commonly assumed to provide a hierarchy of i…Read more
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26Book review: explaining chaos (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (1): 201-205. 2001.Review of: Peter Smith, Explaining chaos. Cambridge: Cambridge univeristy Press, 1998. ISBN 0 521 47747 6.
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25Aspects of Quantum Non-Locality I: Superluminal Signalling, Action-at-a-Distance, Non-Separability and HolismStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29 (2): 183-222. 1996.In this paper and its sequel, I consider the significance of Jarrett’s and Shimony’s analyses of the so-called factorisability condition for clarifying the nature of quantum non-locality. In this paper, I focus on four types of non-locality: superluminal signalling, action-at-a-distance, non-separability and holism. In the second paper, I consider a fifth type of non-locality: superluminal causation according to ‘logically weak’ concepts of causation, where causal dependence requires neither act…Read more
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113The ergodic hierarchyStanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. 2011.The so-called ergodic hierarchy (EH) is a central part of ergodic theory. It is a hierarchy of properties that dynamical systems can possess. Its five levels are egrodicity, weak mixing, strong mixing, Kolomogorov, and Bernoulli. Although EH is a mathematical theory, its concepts have been widely used in the foundations of statistical physics, accounts of randomness, and discussions about the nature of chaos. We introduce EH and discuss how its applications in these fields.
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20The Nature of Causality in Quantum PhenomenaTheoria: Revista de Teoría, Historia y Fundamentos de la Ciencia 15 (1): 87-122. 2000.The correlations between distant systems in typical quantum situations, such as Einstein-Podolosky-Rosen experiments, strongly suggest that the quantum realm involves curious types of non-Iocal influences. In this paper, I study in detail the nature of these non-Iocal influences, as depicted by various quantum theories. I show how different quantum theories realise non-Iocality in different ways, whichreflect different ontological settings.
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169On chance in causal loopsMind 110 (437): 1-23. 2001.A common line of argument for the impossibility of closed causal loops is that they would involve causal paradoxes. The usual reply is that such loops impose heavy consistency constraints on the nature of causal connections in them; constraints that are overlooked by the impossibility arguments. Hugh Mellor has maintained that arguments for the possibility of causal loops also overlook some constraints, which are related to the chances (single-case, objective probabilities) that causes give to t…Read more
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139Action at a Distance in Quantum MechanicsIn Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, The Metaphysics Research Lab. 2014.
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27What econometrics cannot teach quantum mechanicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 26 (2): 163-200. 1995.Cartwright and Humphreys have suggested theories of probabilistic causation for singular events, which are based on modifications of traditional causal linear modelling. On the basis of her theory, Cartwright offered an allegedly local, and non-factorizable, common-cause model for the EPR experiment. In this paper I consider Cartwright's and Humphreys' theories. I argue that, provided plausible assumptions obtain, local models for EPR in the framework of these theories are committed to Bell ineq…Read more
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47On predictions in retro-causal interpretations of quantum mechanicsStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 39 (4): 709-735. 2008.
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13E-mail: Jzberkovitz@ yahoo. Com; jberkov@ umbc. EduIn Tomasz Placek & Jeremy Butterfield (eds.), Non-locality and Modality, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 64--235. 2002.
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102Can Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics Be Reconciled with Relativity?Philosophy of Science 72 (5): 789-801. 2005.Modal interpretations are hidden-variable, no-collapse interpretations of quantum mechanics that were designed to solve the measurement problem and reconcile this theory with relativity. Yet, as no-go theorems by Dickson and Clifton, Arntzenius and Myrvold demonstrate, current modal interpretations are incompatible with relativity. In the mainstream modal interpretations, properties of composite systems are generally unrelated to the properties of their subsystems. We propose holistic and relati…Read more
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128The Propensity Interpretation of Probability: A Re-evaluationErkenntnis 80 (S3): 629-711. 2015.Single-case and long-run propensity theories are among the main objective interpretations of probability. There have been various objections to these theories, e.g. that it is difficult to explain why propensities should satisfy the probability axioms and, worse, that propensities are at odds with these axioms, that the explication of propensities is circular and accordingly not informative, and that single-case propensities are metaphysical and accordingly non-scientific. We consider various pr…Read more
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31On Causal Inference in Determinism and IndeterminismIn Harald Atmanspacher & Robert Bishop (eds.), Between Chance and Choice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Determinism, Thorverton Uk: Imprint Academic. pp. 237--278. 2002.
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131Aspects of Quantum Non-Locality I: Superluminal Signalling, Action-at-a-Distance, Non-Separability and HolismStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29 (2): 183-222. 1998.In this paper and its sequel, I consider the significance of Jarrett’s and Shimony’s analyses of the so-called factorisability condition for clarifying the nature of quantum non-locality. In this paper, I focus on four types of non-locality: superluminal signalling, action-at-a-distance, non-separability and holism. In the second paper, I consider a fifth type of non-locality: superluminal causation according to ‘logically weak’ concepts of causation, where causal dependence requires neither act…Read more
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115Peter Smith explaining chaosBritish Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (1): 201-205. 2001.Review of: Peter Smith, Explaining chaos. Cambridge: Cambridge univeristy Press, 1998. ISBN 0 521 47747 6.
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66Recent no go theorems by Dickson and Clifton (1998), Arntzenius (1998) and Myrvold (2002) demonstrate that current modal interpretations are incompatible with relativity. In this paper we propose strategies for how to circumvent these theorems. We further show how these strategies can be developped into new modal interpretations in which the properties of systems are in general either holistic or relational. We explicitly write down an outline of dynamics for these properties which does not pick…Read more
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34The World According to de Finetti: On de Finetti's Theory of Probability and Its Application to Quantum MechanicsIn Yemima Ben-Menahem & Meir Hemmo (eds.), Probability in Physics, Springer. pp. 249--280. 2012.
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145On causal loops in the quantum realmIn Tomasz Placek & Jeremy Butterfield (eds.), Non-locality and Modality, Kluwer Academic Publishers. pp. 235--257. 2002.
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16Aspects of Quantum Non-Locality II: Superluminal Causation and RelativityStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 29 (4): 509-545. 1998.In a preceding paper, I studied the significance of Jarrett's and Shimony's analyses of 'factorisability' into 'parameter independence' and 'outcome independence' for clarifying the nature of non-locality in quantum phenomena. I focused on four types of non-locality; superluminal signalling, action-at-a-distance, non-separability and holism. In this paper, I consider a fifth type of non-locality: superluminal causation according to 'logically weak' concepts of causation, where causal dependence …Read more
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40Review of Peter Smith:" Explaining Chaos" (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 52 (1): 201-205. 2001.Review of: Peter Smith, Explaining chaos. Cambridge: Cambridge univeristy Press, 1998. ISBN 0 521 47747 6.
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151The nature of causality in quantum phenomenaTheoria 15 (1): 87-122. 2000.The correlations between distant systems in typical quantum situations, such as Einstein-Podolosky-Rosen experiments, strongly suggest that the quantum realm involves curious types of non-Iocal influences. In this paper, I study in detail the nature of these non-Iocal influences, as depicted by various quantum theories. I show how different quantum theories realise non-Iocality in different ways, whichreflect different ontological settings
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89Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics and Relativity: A Reconsideration (review)Foundations of Physics 35 (3): 373-397. 2004.Two of the main interpretative problems in quantum mechanics are the so-called measurement problem and the question of the compatibility of quantum mechanics with relativity theory. Modal interpretations of quantum mechanics were designed to solve both of these problems. They are no-collapse (typically) indeterministic interpretations of quantum mechanics that supplement the orthodox state description of physical systems by a set of possessed properties that is supposed to be rich enough to acco…Read more
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52Bruno de Finetti is one of the founding fathers of the subjectivist school of probability, where probabilities are interpreted as rational degrees of belief. His work on the relation between the theorems of probability and rationality is among the corner stones of modern subjective probability theory. De Finetti maintained that rationality requires that degrees of belief be coherent, and he argued that the whole of probability theory could be derived from these coherence conditions. De Finetti’s…Read more
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61On Probabilities in Biology and PhysicsErkenntnis 80 (S3): 433-456. 2015.This volume focuses on various questions concerning the interpretation of probability and probabilistic reasoning in biology and physics. It is inspired by the idea that philosophers of biology and philosophers of physics who work on the foundations of their disciplines encounter similar questions and problems concerning the role and application of probability, and that interaction between the two communities will be both interesting and fruitful. In this introduction we present the background t…Read more
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University of Toronto, St. George CampusInstitute for the History and Philosophy of ScienceRegular Faculty
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Areas of Specialization
Metaphysics |
Philosophy of Economics |
Philosophy of Probability |