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852Time, topology and physical geometryAristotelian Society Supplementary Volume 84 (1): 63-78. 2010.The standard mathematical account of the sub-metrical geometry of a space employs topology, whose foundational concept is the open set. This proves to be an unhappy choice for discrete spaces, and offers no insight into the physical origin of geometrical structure. I outline an alternative, the Theory of Linear Structures, whose foundational concept is the line. Application to Relativistic space-time reveals that the whole geometry of space-time derives from temporal structure. In this sense, in…Read more
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837The metaphysics within physicsOxford University Press. 2007.A modest proposal concerning laws, counterfactuals, and explanations - - Why be Humean? -- Suggestions from physics for deep metaphysics -- On the passing of time -- Causation, counterfactuals, and the third factor -- The whole ball of wax -- Epilogue : a remark on the method of metaphysics.
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653Buckets of water and waves of space: Why spacetime is probably a substancePhilosophy of Science 60 (2): 183-203. 1993.This paper sketches a taxonomy of forms of substantivalism and relationism concerning space and time, and of the traditional arguments for these positions. Several natural sorts of relationism are able to account for Newton's bucket experiment. Conversely, appropriately constructed substantivalism can survive Leibniz's critique, a fact which has been obscured by the conflation of two of Leibniz's arguments. The form of relationism appropriate to the Special Theory of Relativity is also able to e…Read more
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615Three measurement problemsTopoi 14 (1): 7-15. 1995.The aim of this essay is to distinguish and analyze several difficulties confronting attempts to reconcile the fundamental quantum mechanical dynamics with Born''s rule. It is shown that many of the proposed accounts of measurement fail at least one of the problems. In particular, only collapse theories and hidden variables theories have a chance of succeeding, and, of the latter, the modal interpretations fail. Any real solution demands new physics.
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515XIV-Remarks on the Passing of TimeProceedings of the Aristotelian Society 102 (3): 237-252. 2002.This essay is the first act of a two-act play. My ultimate aim is to defend a simple proposition: time passes. To be more precise, I want to defend the claim that the passage of time is an intrinsic asymmetry in the structure of space-time itself, an asymmetry that has no spatial counterpart and is metaphysically independent of the material contents of space-time. It is independent, for example, of the entropy gradient of the universe. This view is part of common-sense, but has been widely attac…Read more
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398Substances and space-time: What Aristotle would have said to EinsteinStudies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 21 (4): 531-561. 1990.
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372Why Bohm's theory solves the measurement problemPhilosophy of Science 62 (3): 479-483. 1995.Abraham Stone recently has published an argument purporting to show that David Bohm's interpretation of quantum mechanics fails to solve the measurement problem. Stone's analysis is not correct, as he has failed to take account of the conditions under which the theorems he cites are proven. An explicit presentation of a Bohmian measurement illustrates the flaw in his reasoning
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290On the impossibility of David Lewis' modal realismAustralasian Journal of Philosophy 74 (4). 1996.This Article does not have an abstract
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263What could be objective about probabilities?Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 38 (2): 275-291. 2007.
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246We criticize speculations to the effect that quantum mechanics is fundamentally about information. We do this by pointing out how unfounded such speculations in fact are. Our analysis focuses on the dubious claims of this kind recently made by Anton Zeilinger.
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242Thoroughly muddled Mctaggart: Or, how to abuse gauge freedom to create metaphysical monostrositiesPhilosophers' Imprint 2 1-23. 2002.It has long been a commonplace that there is a problem understanding the role of time when one tries to quantize the General Theory of Relativity (GTR). In his "Thoroughly Modern McTaggart" (Philosophers' Imprint Vol 2, No. 3), John Earman presents several arguments to the conclusion that there is a problem understanding change and the passage of time in the unadorned GTR, quite apart from quantization. His Young McTaggart argues that according to the GTR, no physical magnitude ever changes. A c…Read more
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240The Essence of Space-TimePSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1988. 1988.I argue that Norton & Earman's hole argument, despite its historical association with General Relativity, turns upon very general features of any linguistic system that can represent substances by names. After exploring various means by which mathematical objects can be interpreted as representing physical possibilities, I suggest that a form of essentialism can solve the hole dilemma without abandoning either determinism or substantivalism. Finally, I identify the basic tenets of such an essent…Read more
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237Dickson on quantum chance and non-locality (review)British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 51 (4): 875-882. 2000.
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215Philosophy of Physics: Space and TimePrinceton University Press. 2012.This concise book introduces nonphysicists to the core philosophical issues surrounding the nature and structure of space and time, and is also an ideal resource for physicists interested in the conceptual foundations of space-time theory. Tim Maudlin's broad historical overview examines Aristotelian and Newtonian accounts of space and time, and traces how Galileo's conceptions of relativity and space-time led to Einstein's special and general theories of relativity. Maudlin explains special rel…Read more
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198Truth and paradox: solving the riddlesOxford University Press. 2004.In this ingenious and powerfully argued book Tim Maudlin sets out a novel account of logic and semantics which allows him to deal with certain notorious paradoxes which have bedevilled philosophical theories of truth. All philosophers interested in logic and language will find this a stimulating read.
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198Healey on the aharonov-Bohm effectPhilosophy of Science 65 (2): 361-368. 1998.Richard Healey argues that the Aharonov- Bohm effect demands the recognition of either nonlocal or nonseparable physics in much the way that violations of Bell's inequality do. A careful examination of the effect and the arguments, though, shows that Healey's interpretation of the Aharonov- Bohm effect depends critically on his interpretation of gauge theories, and that the analogy with violations of Bell's inequalities fails
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186A Modal Free LunchFoundations of Physics 50 (6): 522-529. 2020.The meaning and truth conditions for claims about physical modality and causation have been considered problematic since Hume’s empiricist critique. But the underlying semantic commitments that follow from Hume’s empiricism about ideas have long been abandoned by the philosophical community. Once the consequences of that abandonment are properly appreciated, the problems of physical modality and causal locutions fall away, and can be painlessly solved.
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182Between The Motion And The Act... A Review of Shadows of the Mind by Roger Penros (review)PSYCHE: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Research On Consciousness 2 40-51. 1995.
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167Time-Travel and TopologyPSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1990. 1990.This paper demonstrates that John Wheeler and Richard Feynman's strategy for avoiding causal paradoxes threatened by backward causation and time-travel can be defeated by designing self-interacting mechanisms with a non-simple topological structure. Time-travel therefore requires constraints on the allowable data on space-like hypersurfaces. The nature and significance of these constraints is discussed.
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159Grading, sorting, and the soritesMidwest Studies in Philosophy 32 (1): 141-168. 2008.No Abstract
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159On the Unification of PhysicsJournal of Philosophy 93 (3): 129-144. 1996.There are various senses in which a physical theory may be said to "unify" different forces, with the unification being deeper of more shallow in different cases. This paper discusses some of these distinctions.
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156Speculations in High DimensionsAnalysis 82 (4): 787-798. 2022.It is a truth universally acknowledged that quantum mechanics is (somehow or other) screwy. That is, the ‘picture of the world’ presented by quantum mechanics i.
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151The Universal and the Local in Quantum TheoryTopoi 34 (2): 349-358. 2015.Any empirical physical theory must have implications for observable events at the scale of everyday life, even though that scale plays no special role in the basic ontology of the theory itself. The fundamental physical scales are microscopic for the “local beables” of the theory and universal scale for the non-local beables. This situation creates strong demands for any precise quantum theory. This paper examines those constraints, and illustrates some ways in which they can be met
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134New Foundations for Physical Geometry: The Theory of Linear StructuresOxford University Press. 2014.Tim Maudlin sets out a completely new method for describing the geometrical structure of spaces, and thus a better mathematical tool for describing and understanding space-time. He presents a historical review of the development of geometry and topology, and then his original Theory of Linear Structures
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132Robust versus anemic: comments on Objective BecomingPhilosophical Studies 175 (7): 1807-1814. 2018.
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126Philosophy of Physics: Quantum TheoryPrinceton University Press. 2019.A sophisticated and original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics from one of the world’s leading philosophers of physics In this book, Tim Maudlin, one of the world’s leading philosophers of physics, offers a sophisticated, original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics. The briefest, clearest, and most refined account of his influential approach to the subject, the book will be invaluable to all students of philosophy and physics. Quantum mechanics holds a unique p…Read more
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