14 Ergebnisse.

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This brief book attempts to provide a 21st-century version of Seneca's classic essay, On the Shortness of Life. Like Seneca, Rickles seeks to motivate readers to meditate on how they use their time and offer some reasons why they mismanage this precious resource. Drawing on new developments in the understanding of time, the self, and human agency, in philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and physics, Rickles's basic aim is to highlight the ess...

In this book Rickles considers several interpretative difficulties raised by gauge-type symmetries (those that correspond to no change in physical state). The ubiquity of such symmetries in modern physics renders them an urgent topic in philosophy of physics. Rickles focuses on spacetime physics, and in particular classical and quantum general relativity. Here the problems posed are at their most pathological, involving the apparent disappeara...

What is spacetime? General relativity and quantum field theory answer this question in very different ways. This collection of essays by physicists and philosophers looks at the problem of uniting these two most fundamental theories of our world, focusing on the nature of space and time within this new quantum framework, and the kind of metaphysical picture suggested by recent developments in physics and mathematics. This is a book that will i...

Philosophy of science puts science itself under the microscope: What exactly is science? How do its explanations of the world differ from those of other subjects, including so-called "pseudo-sciences"? How should we understand and evaluate scientific methods? What, if anything, can science tell us about the nature of physical reality? Dean Rickles guides beginners through the central topics in philosophy of science. He looks at the origins an...

This is the first book-length treatment of the history of attempts to bring quantum mechanics and gravitation together. It goes beyond a mere technical examination of the problems, by also looking at social and cultural factors involved in the changing fortunes of the field.

In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the foundations of information and address the related question of the limits to our knowledge of the world.Over recent decades, our practical approach to information and its exploitation has radically outpaced our theoretical understanding - to such a degree that reflection on the foundations may seem futile. But it is ex...

Introducing readers to the developments in the philosophical foundations of physics, this book offers an overview of the central debates in the philosophy of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, quantum computation, and quantum gravity.

Existiert die Zukunft bereits? Was ist der Raum? Sind Zeitmaschinen möglich? Wie sieht die Realität der Quantenmechanik aus? Gibt es viele Universen? Warum scheint es, dass ein Zeitpfeil existiert? Spielen die Menschen eine besondere Rolle in der Welt? In diesem einzigartigen Einführungsbuch führt Dean Rickles den Leser durch diese und andere Kernfragen, die Philosophen der Physik nicht ruhen lassen. Rickles erörtert drei Pfeiler der modernen...

Does the future exist already? What is space? Are time machines physically possible? What is quantum mechanical reality like? Are there many universes? Is there a 'true' geometry of the universe? Why does there appear to be an arrow of time? Do humans play a special role in the world? In this unique introductory book, Dean Rickles guides the reader through these and other core questions that keep philosophers of physics up at night. He discus...

Structural realism has rapidly gained in popularity in recent years, but it has splintered into many distinct denominations, often underpinned by diverse motivations. There is, no monolithic position known as ‘structural realism, ’ but there is a general convergence on the idea that a central role is to be played by relational aspects over object-based aspects of ontology. What becomes of causality in a world without fundamental objects? In th...

During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An...

During its forty year lifespan, string theory has always had the power to divide, being called both a 'theory of everything' and a 'theory of nothing'. Critics have even questioned whether it qualifies as a scientific theory at all. This book adopts an objective stance, standing back from the question of the truth or falsity of string theory and instead focusing on how it came to be and how it came to occupy its present position in physics. An...

In this essay collection, leading physicists, philosophers, and historians attempt to fill the empty theoretical ground in the foundations of information and address the related question of the limits to our knowledge of the world.Over recent decades, our practical approach to information and its exploitation has radically outpaced our theoretical understanding - to such a degree that reflection on the foundations may seem futile. But it is ex...