The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics

Robert W. Batterman

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English

Oxford University Press Inc
19 February 2014

Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology; Philosophy of science; Physics

Series: Oxford Handbooks

"This Oxford Handbook provides an overview of many of the topics that currently engage philosophers of physics. It surveys new issues and the problems that have become a focus of attention in recent years. It also provides up-to-date discussions of the still very important problems that dominated the field in the past.

In the late 20th Century, the philosophy of physics was largely focused on orthodox Quantum Mechanics and Relativity Theory. The measurement problem, the question of the possibility of hidden variables, and the nature of quantum locality dominated the literature on the quantum mechanics, whereas questions about relationalism vs. substantivalism, and issues about underdetermination of theories dominated the literature on spacetime. These issues still receive considerable attention from philosophers, but many have shifted their attentions to other questions related to quantum mechanics and to spacetime theories. Quantum field theory has become a major focus, particularly from the point of view of algebraic foundations. Concurrent with these trends, there has been a focus on understanding gauge invariance and symmetries. The philosophy of physics has evolved even further in recent years with attention being paid to theories that, for the most part, were largely ignored in the past. For example, the relationship between thermodynamics and statistical mechanics---once thought to be a paradigm instance of unproblematic theory reduction---is now a hotly debated topic. The implicit, and sometimes explicit, reductionist methodology of both philosophers and physicists has been severely criticized and

attention has now turned to

the explanatory and descriptive roles of ""non-fundamental,'' phenomenological theories. This shift of attention includes ""old'' theories such as classical mechanics, once deemed to be of little philosophical interest. Furthermore, some philosophers have become more interested in ""less fundamental'' contemporary physics such as condensed matter theory. Questions abound with implications for the nature of models, idealizations, and explanation in physics. This Handbook showcases all these aspects of this complex and dynamic discipline."

Edited by: Robert W. Batterman
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 254mm, Width: 178mm, Spine: 38mm
Weight: 1.300kg
ISBN: 9780195392043
ISBN 10: 0195392043
Series: Oxford Handbooks
Pages: 704
Publication Date: 19 February 2014
Audience: College/higher education , A / AS level , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Introduction 1: Olivier Darrigol: For a Philosophy of Hydrodynamics 2: Mark Wilson: What is Classical Mechanics Anyway? 3: Sheldon Smith: Causation in Classical Mechanics 4: Leo P. Kadanoff: Theories of Matter: Infinities and Renormalization 5: Craig Callender and Tarun Menon: Turn and Face the Strange . . . Ch-ch-changes: Philosophical Questions Raised by Phase Transitions 6: Jonathan Bain: Effective Field Theories 7: Robert Batterman: The Tyranny of Scales 8: Sorin Bangu: Symmetry 9: Gordon Belot: Symmetry and Equivalence 10: Simon Saunders: Indistinguishability 11: Margaret Morrison: Unification in Physics 12: Guido Bacciagaluppi: Measurement and Classical Regime in Quantum Mechanics 13: David Wallace: The Everett Interpretation 14: Laura Ruetsche: Unitary Equivalence and Physical Equivalence 15: Oliver Pooley: Substantivalist and Relationalist Approaches to Spacetime 16: John Byron Manchak: Global Spacetime Structure 17: Chris Smeenk: Philosophy of Cosmology

Robert Batterman is Professor of Philosophy at The University of Pittsburgh. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author of The Devil in the Details: Asymptotic Reasoning in Explanation, Reduction, and Emergence (Oxford, 2002). His work in philosophy of physics focuses primarily upon the area of condensed matter broadly construed.

Reviews for The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Physics

There is much richness here, and an advanced graduate student or an established researcher would learn a great deal from reading the volume from cover to cover ... the volume is excellent. James Owen Weatherall, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews