-
255Chaos Theory: A Quick ImmersionTibidabo Publishing. 2023.Since the 1980s chaos has been the subject of great interest both in scientific research and in public consciousness. Chaos as played roles in books and movies such as Jurassic Park and Bellwether and has been the subject of numerous popularizations. But what is chaos—better characterized as chaotic dynamics—really? How much of an impact does it have on everyday life? This book explores these questions and more, introducing you to the basics of chaos as mathematicians and scientists study it and…Read more
-
222Contextual Emergence: Constituents, Context and MeaningIn Shyam Wuppuluri & Ian Stewart (eds.), From Electrons to Elephants and Elections: Saga of Content and Context, Springer. pp. 243-256. 2022.This chapter provides a gentle introduction to contextual emergence and its implications for the structure of the material world as well as implications for meaning in our world.
-
38Emergence in context: a treatise in twenty-first century natural philosophyOxford University Press. 2022.Science, philosophy of science, and metaphysics have long been concerned with the question of how novel things emerge. How can order come out of disorder? This book introduces a new account, contextual emergence, seeking to answer such questions."--Back cover.
-
Chaotic Dynamics, Indeterminacy and Free WillDissertation, The University of Texas at Austin. 1999.I give a philosophical assessment of developments in modern physics such as chaos, quantum mechanics and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. My thesis combines knowledge and expertise from both physics and philosophy in an attempt to assess the consequences of these modern developments for determinism, indeterminism and free will. I have developed some now and important insights particularly with respect to the limited applicability of determinism to physics and with regard to systematic defec…Read more
-
34This volume introduces the methodological value of hermeneutic dialogue in the field of theoretical and philosophical psychology. It reflects on the works of Frank Richardson, who has made, and continues to make, seminal contributions to the field, as well as having influenced the work of many of the practitioners engaged in this field today. Each chapter explores a major topic of hermeneutic dialogue and is authored by a scholar whose work has been directly impacted by Richardson's life and res…Read more
-
9Science and TheologyJournal of Interdisciplinary Studies 5 (1-2): 141-162. 1993.The scientific and theological enterprises share many fundamental assumptions and have methodological similarities, though the two disciplines often have different focuses of investigation. Science seeks to unravel the detailed workings of nature by focusing on the quantitative aspects discemable in the universe. Theology strives to understand the essence, activity, and purposes of God in the universe. These two enterprises are partial views of the multi-faceted reality we call the world that oc…Read more
-
13Jaki, Stanley L. Science and Creation (review)Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies 2 (1-2): 195-196. 1990.
-
9Review of After Physicalism, ed. Benedikt Göcke (review)Essays in Philosophy 14 (2): 269-290. 2013.
-
87Contextual Emergence of Physical PropertiesFoundations of Physics 50 (5): 481-510. 2020.Contextual emergence was originally proposed as an inter-level relation between different levels of description to describe an epistemic notion of emergence in physics. Here, we discuss the ontic extension of this relation to different domains or levels of physical reality using the properties of temperature and molecular shape as detailed case studies. We emphasize the concepts of stability conditions and multiple realizability as key features of contextual emergence. Some broader implications …Read more
-
74The Physics of EmergenceMorgan & Claypool publication as part of IOP Concise Physics. 2019.This book explores whether physics points to a reductive or an emergent structure of the world and proposes a physics-motivated conception of emergence that leaves behind many of the problematic intuitions shaping the philosophical conceptions. Examining several detailed case studies reveals results that point to stability conditions playing a crucial though underappreciated role in the physics of emergence. This contextual emergence has thought-provoking consequences for physics and beyond.
-
20Niels Bohr’s Philosophy of Quantum Physics in the Light of the Helmholtzian Tradition of Theoretical Physics (review)Isis 95 334-335. 2004.A review of *Niels Bohr’s Philosophy of Quantum Physics in the Light of the Helmholtzian Tradition of Theoretical Physics *
-
30Practices, Power, and Cultural IdealsJournal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 24 (2): 179-195. 2004.This article and the following ones by Slife and Westerman represent a coordinated effort on the authors' part to begin to mine the resources of what has been termed the "practice turn in contemporary theory" for psychology. The liberal approach tends to focus on a fear of power and how it can corrupt our best ideals, while the postmodernist tends to focus on a fascination with power flowing through the social and institutional expressions of these very ideals. Given modern Western culture's dee…Read more
-
41What Could Be Worse than the Butterfly Effect?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 38 (4): 519-547. 2008.The discovery of sensitive dependence on initial conditions (SDIC) in nonlinear models runs counter to the textbook vision of CM, a vision guided by an almost exclusive focus on linear systems. Therefore, it is important to clearly distinguish between linear and nonlinear systems along with establishing some basic terminology (§I). The notions of SDIC and chaos also need clarification, since they play crucial roles in sensitive dependence (SD) arguments. This will require some discussion of Lyap…Read more
-
21Review of The evolution of ethics: Human sociality and the emergence of ethical mindedness (review)Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 36 (3): 190-197. 2016.
-
66Free will in absentia: Dennett on free will and determinismJournal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 23 (2): 168-183. 2003.Mark Crooks has given a helpful discussion of Daniel Dennett's "philosophical abolition of mind," adding to the list of reasons why many philosophers jokingly say Dennett should have titled his 1991 book "Consciousness Explained Away". As Crooks argues, Dennett really is committed 'to our phenomenal experience, beliefs, desires, etc. as all being illusory in the strongest possible sense. Yet, when it comes to free will, Dennett fights hard to maintain that free will is something more than an ill…Read more
-
33Rethinking determinism in social scienceIn Harald Atmanspacher & Robert C. Bishop (eds.), Between Chance and Choice: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Determinism, Thorverton Uk: Imprint Academic. pp. 425--446. 2002.A re-examination of determinism and compatibilism and incompatibilism in free will debates.
-
76Contemporary Views on Compatibilism and Incompatibilism: Dennett and KaneMind and Matter 7 (1): 91-110. 2009.For a long time, Daniel Dennett, like many philosophers, has been trying to understand how to make room for free will in a world of ordered causes. A core feature of Dennett's view on these matters is that the world is deterministic and his approach to this project has been to show how determinism really is our friend rather than our enemy . His most recent foray into this arena is the ambitious book, Freedom Evolves, where he once again seeks to make clear that determinism does not threaten any…Read more
-
53Overcoming neoliberalismJournal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 38 (1): 15-28. 2018.Psychology may have to get seriously political as human aims in living and selfhood itself are increasingly influenced in a deleterious manner by the vicissitudes of living in a neoliberal political economy and one-sided “enterprise culture” (Martin & McLellan, 2013; Sugarman, 2015). This article reviews recent writings of several social critics, including Jackson Lears (2015), Sebastion Junger (2015), Philip Blond (2010), and Christopher Lasch (1995), who richly flesh out the picture of this de…Read more
-
68The hidden premiss in the causal argument for physicalismAnalysis 66 (1): 44-52. 2006.The causal argument for physicalism is anayzed and it's key premise--the causal closure of physics--is found wanting. Therefore, a hidden premise must be added to the argument to gain its conclusion, but the hidden premise is indistinguishable from the conclusion of the causal argument. Therefore, it begs the question on physicalism.
-
104What is this naturalism stuff all about?Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology 29 (2): 108-113. 2009.Wading into the thicket of science, naturalism, and theism in the context of psychology can seem quite daunting. One prerequisite for avoiding confusions and missteps is to properly distinguishing two forms of naturalism that are logically independent of each other: metaphysical and methodological. Once this underbrush is cleared away, interesting and important questions about psychology’s compatibility with theism, the psychological study of religion and other topics can be fruitfully engaged. …Read more
-
156On Separating Predictability and DeterminismErkenntnis 58 (2): 169-188. 2003.There has been a long-standing debate about the relationship of predictability and determinism. Some have maintained that determinism implies predictability while others have maintained that predictability implies determinism. Many have maintained that there are no implication relations between determinism and predictability. This summary is, of course, somewhat oversimplified and quick at least in the sense that there are various notions of determinism and predictability at work in the philosop…Read more
-
64Chaos, indeterminism, and free willIn Robert Kane (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Free Will, Oxford University Press. pp. 84-100. 2001.An overview of chaos, indeterminism, free will and the relationship between physics and free will.
-
101Stability Conditions in Contextual EmergenceChaos and Complexity Letters 2 139-150. 2007.The concept of contextual emergence is proposed as a non-reductive, yet welldefined relation between different levels of description of physical and other systems. It is illustrated for the transition from statistical mechanics to thermodynamical properties such as temperature. Stability conditions are crucial for a rigorous implementation of contingent contexts that are required to understand temperature as an emergent property. It is proposed that such stability conditions are meaningful for co…Read more
-
466The hidden premise in the causal argument for physicalismAnalysis 66 (1): 44-52. 2005.The causal argument for physicalism is anayzed and it's key premise--the causal closure of physics--is found wanting. Therefore, a hidden premise must be added to the argument to gain its conclusion, but the hidden premise is indistinguishable from the conclusion of the causal argument. Therefore, it begs the question on physicalism.
-
36Is chaos indeterministic?In Maria Luisa Dalla Chiara (ed.), Language, Quantum, Music, . pp. 129--141. 1999.An examination of determinism in the context of chaotic dynamics.
-
19Book Review: Recasting Reality with Wolfgang Pauli (review)Mind and Matter 7 (2): 249-251. 2009.
-
163What could be worse than the butterfly effect?Canadian Journal of Philosophy 38 (4). 2008.Some have argued that chaos, with its characteristic feature of sensitive dependence on initial conditions, should be sensitive to quantum events (Hobbs 1991; Kellert 1993). The upshot of these arguments is that classical chaos would then be indeterministic, but such a conclusion is dependent on which versions of quantum theory and solutions to the measurement problem are adopted (Bishop and Kronz 1999). In this essay, the relationship between quantum mechanics and sensitive dependence is placed…Read more
-
65Review of "After Physicalism" (review)Essays in Philosophy 14 (2): 269-290. 2013.On the whole, the essays and arguments in *After Physicalism* assume that the mind-body problem is independent of the physical, biological and social history of human beings. If I am right in what I have argued about the objectification that runs throughout so much of this volume, such assumptions of independence are not only false, but impede our ability to understand the actual nature of mind in our world. Moreover, coming to an understanding of mind in our world is as much about developing a …Read more
-
353Downward causation in fluid convectionSynthese 160 (2). 2008.Recent developments in nonlinear dynamics have found wide application in many areas of science from physics to neuroscience. Nonlinear phenomena such as feedback loops, inter-level relations, wholes constraining and modifying the behavior of their parts, and memory effects are interesting candidates for emergence and downward causation. Rayleigh–Bénard convection is an example of a nonlinear system that, I suggest, yields important insights for metaphysics and philosophy of science. In this pape…Read more
-
88Anvil or onion? Determinism as a layered conceptErkenntnis 63 (1). 2005.Kellert (In the Wake of Chars, University of Chicago press, Chicago, 1993) has argued that Laplacean determinism in classical physics is actually a layered concept, where various properties or layers composing this form of determinism can be peeled away. Here, I argue that a layered conception of determinism is inappropriate and that we should think in terms of different deterministic models applicable to different kinds of systems. The upshot of this analysis is that the notion of state is more…Read more
Wheaton, Illinois, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
Philosophy of Physical Science |
Philosophy of Social Science |
Philosophy of Mind |
Areas of Interest
Epistemology |
Metaphysics |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |