Egg Scientific Realism in Particle Physics

A Causal Approach
1. Auflage 2014
ISBN: 978-3-11-035440-9
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 29, 200 Seiten

Reihe: Epistemische Studien / Epistemic Studies

Zielgruppe

Academics, Institutes, Libraries

Autoren/Hrsg.

Egg, Matthias

Fachgebiete

• Naturwissenschaften Physik Quantenphysik Teilchenphysik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Wissenschaftstheorie, Wissenschaftsphilosophie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie der Mathematik, Philosophie der Physik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Contents;9
2;Preface;5
3;Part I. The Recent Debate on Scientific Realism;11
3.1;1. Scientific Realism and Its Relation to Common Sense;13
3.1.1;1.1 Key Arguments Surrounding Scientific Realism;14
3.1.2;1.2 Scientific Realism without Common Sense Realism?;23
3.2;2. Entity Realism;29
3.2.1;2.1 From Theories to Entities;30
3.2.2;2.2 Is Manipulability an Adequate Criterion of Reality?;33
3.2.3;2.3 From Manipulation to Explanation;38
3.3;3. NOA and the Vices of the Realism Debate;43
3.3.1;3.1 In Defense of Interpretation;43
3.3.2;3.2 The Principle of Fairness;50
3.3.3;3.3 NOA, Entity Realism, and the Homely Line;54
4;Part II. Causal Realism;57
4.1;4. Causal vs. Theoretical Warrant;59
4.1.1;4.1 Criterion 1: Non-redundancy;60
4.1.2;4.2 Criterion 2: Material Inference;64
4.1.3;4.3 Criterion 3: Empirical Adequacy;69
4.1.4;4.4 Causal Realism’s Advantages over Entity Realism;72
4.2;5. Causal Warrant for the Neutrino: A Case Study;77
4.2.1;5.1 Bohr and Pauli on Beta Decay;77
4.2.2;5.2 The Impact of Fermi’s Theory and the Need for Direct Detection;79
4.2.3;5.3 The Detection of the Neutrino by Reines and Cowan;82
4.3;6. The Problem of Unconceived Alternatives;89
4.3.1;6.1 Previous Attempts to Undermine the PUA;90
4.3.2;6.2 Causal Knowledge as a Criterion for the Realist;95
4.3.3;6.3 Causal Realism, Unconceived Alternatives, and the Atomic Hypothesis;102
5;Part III. The Quantum Challenge;113
5.1;7. Causal Realism in the Context of Bell-Type Experiments;115
5.1.1;7.1 Bell-Experiments: Causal Warrant for Superluminal Causation;115
5.1.2;7.2 Causal Realism and Underdetermination in Quantum Mechanics;124
5.1.3;7.3 Some Experimental Constraints on Explanations for EPR;132
5.2;8. Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement?;147
5.2.1;8.1 Delayed Choice in the Double-Slit Experiment;149
5.2.2;8.2 The Quantum Eraser;150
5.2.3;8.3 Delayed-Choice Entanglement Swapping;155
5.3;9. Particle Physics without Particles? On Causal Realism in Quantum Field Theory;159
5.3.1;9.1 Against Localizability: Malament’s Theorem and Its Generalizations;159
5.3.2;9.2 Against Countability: Unruh Effect and Interacting Fields;164
5.3.3;9.3 Defending Localizability and Countability;171
5.3.4;9.4 Concluding Remarks on Realism, Fundamentalism, and QFT;179
6;Bibliography;185
7;Index;197

Über Autor(innen)

Matthias Egg, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.