Contemporary physics, especially quantum theory, has raised profound questions about the relationship between the methods of science and the reality these methods seek to investigate. D'Espagnat investigates these questions as well as how we should answer them. Part I examines the practices of contemporary physicists and addresses the criticism philosophers of science have made of these practices. The doctrine of physical realism, adopted by most physicists and many philosophers of science, comprises Part II. Part III explores the consequences of physical realism for our understanding of what science can seek to know of reality, and concludes by outlining the position contemporary physics indicates we should take.
Author(s): Bernard D'Espagnat, J. C. Whitehouse
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Year: 1989
Language: English
Pages: 284
Tags: Физика;Философия физики;
Front cover
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Title
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Copyright
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Contents
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Preface
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Introduction
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I. Instrumentalism and science
......Page 20
1. The positivism of the physicists
......Page 22
2. Positivism and fallibilism: philosophical controversies
......Page 36
3. Border areas of instrumentalism
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II. Physical realism and contemporary physics
......Page 64
4. Physical realism and fallibilism
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5. Microrealism and non-separability
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6. Physical realism in trouble
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III. Causality, reality and time
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7. Irreversibility
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8. Sensible reality
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9. Independent reality
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10. The dilemma of modern physics: reality or meaning?
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11. Questions and answers
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12. Summary and perspectives
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Appendix 1: on the 'degree of certainty' of empirical claims
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Appendix 2: two possible kinds of dependence at a distance, as gauged by the yardstick of intersubjective agreement
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Appendix 3: reverse causality: should it be called causality or not?
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Addendum: empirical reality, empirical causality and the measurement problem
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Notes
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References
......Page 271
Index
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Back cover
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