Author: Thomas Metcalf Category: Metaphilosophy, Philosophy of Science Word Count: 931 Philosophy and science are both ways of learning about ourselves and about the rest of the world. In this article, we’ll review the two main perspectives on the question of whether and to what degree science and philosophy overlap. This will turn out to … Continue reading Philosophy and Its Contrast with Science
Category: Philosophy of Science
Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy III: Implications
We’ve already discussed some of the experimental phenomena that inspire competing interpretations or theories of what’s going on in the real world during quantum-mechanical experiments. In this final installment of a three-article series, we’ll look in very broad strokes at some of the philosophical implications of these views of quantum mechanics.
Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy II: Measurement and Interpretations
Author: Thomas Metcalf Category: Philosophy of Science Word Count: 1000 Editor’s Note: This essay is the second in a series authored by Tom on the topic of quantum mechanics and philosophy. Read the first essay here and the third essay here. I. Measurement The story in the previous article in this series corresponds to real experiments about properties of … Continue reading Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy II: Measurement and Interpretations
Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy I: The Superposition of Paths
Author: Thomas Metcalf Category: Philosophy of Science Word Count: 1000 Editor’s Note: This essay is the first in a series authored by Tom on the topic of quantum mechanics and philosophy. Read the second essay here and the third essay here. I. Introduction: A Story I’m going to tell a complicated and counter-intuitive story.1 The real-world situations … Continue reading Quantum Mechanics & Philosophy I: The Superposition of Paths
Thomas Kuhn, Paradigm Shifts, and Academic Rifts
Author: Michael Zerella Category: Philosophy of Science Word Count: 1000 This essay will discuss the important role played by Thomas Kuhn’s characterization of the scientific method in prompting on-going tension between two prominent schools of thought in academia: realism and constructivism. There are many subtle variations on these two schools, but they can broadly be construed … Continue reading Thomas Kuhn, Paradigm Shifts, and Academic Rifts
Karl Popper and Falsificationism
Author: Michael Zerella Category: Philosophy of Science Word Count: 1000 “A million successful experiments cannot prove a theory correct, but one failed experiment can prove a theory wrong.” Perhaps you’ve heard someone use this cliché to describe the scientific method as a tough-minded and unsentimental pursuit of an accurate understanding of nature. The sentiment has … Continue reading Karl Popper and Falsificationism
Laws of Nature
Author: Michael Zerella Category: Philosophy of Science Word Count: 1000 This essay will present the main reasons that scientists and philosophers of science have considered laws of nature to be an integral part of scientific knowledge. It will discuss some of the difficulties associated with the practical application of laws of nature, and will conclude … Continue reading Laws of Nature
