The Theoretical Practices of Physics: Philosophical Essays

ISBN-13: 9780199654369 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 290 str.

R. I. G. Hughes

Opis

R.I.G Hughes presents a series of eight philosophical essays on the theoretical practices of physics. The first two essays examine these practices as they appear in physicists' treatises (e.g. Newton's Principia and Opticks) and journal articles (by Einstein, Bohm and Pines, Aharonov and Bohm). By treating these publications as texts, Hughes casts the philosopher of science in the role of critic. This premise guides the following six essays which deal with various concerns of philosophy and physics such as laws, disunities, models and representation, computer simulation, explanation, and the discourse of physics.

Recenzje

Review from previous edition Hughes has an unparalleled ability to draw meaningful connections between important issues in the philosophy of physics and more general issues in the arts and sciences at large ... The ensuing diversity of aims, approaches, and detailed case studies is the most striking hallmark of the book, making it a very unusual and charismatic contribution to contemporary philosophy of physics ... a highly original, beautifully creative book ... It breaks new ground in philosophy of physics and deserves to be read by everyone with an interest in the field.

O autorze

R. I. G. Hughes is Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina.