Inside Versus Outside: Endo- and Exo-Concepts of Observation and Knowledge in Physics, Philosophy and Cognitive Science

ISBN-13: 9783642486494 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 415 str.

Harald Atmanspacher;Gerhard J. Dalenoort

Opis

This book discusses a fundamental problem of the natural sciences, namely, the observation of physical and biological systems and the principles by which we gain information about these systems. Is it relevant whether the human observer is himself a part of the system in question? What difference does this make to our representation of the physical world? These difficult questions have occupied scientists and philosophers from Decartes to Bell. In the light of recent advances in quantum mechanics and the theory of dynamical systems, there is good reason to tackle these problems afresh. This book will provide stimulating reading for scientists and philosophers interested in the fundamentals of their trade.

Spis treści

1. General Aspects.- Objectification as an Endo-Exo Transition.- Action Principles and Teleology.- Internal Time and Temporality.- Biological Evolution as a Process Viewed Internally.- Internal and External Representations of Mental Processes.- What Can We Learn From Internal Observers?.- The Image and the Picture of Ecology.- 2. The Perspective of Theoretical Physics.- Endophysics — Descartes Taken Seriously.- Endo- and Exo-Theories of Matter.- Temporal Bell Inequalities: A Journey to the Limits of “Consistent Histories”.- Entropy and Evolution.- General Remarks on Complexity.- Observing Complexity and the Complexity of Observation.- Extrinsic-Intrinsic Concept and Complementarity.- 3. The Perspective of Cognitive Science.- Time — A Hidden Window to Dynamics.- Sensory Perceptions and the Endo-Exo Interface: Towards a Physics of Cognitive Processes.- Circular Causality and the Human Self-Organized Endo-Exo Interface.- Epistemological Considerations of Neural Representations of Languages.- Semantic Pressure, Hyper-Systems, and Feelings.- Wigner’s Friend Revitalized?.- The Mental System — A Mathematical/Physical Approach.