Overview
This is a new volume of original essays on the metaphysics of quantum mechanics. The essays address questions such as: What fundamental metaphysics is best motivated by quantum mechanics? What is the ontological status of the wave function? Does quantum mechanics support the existence of any other fundamental entities, e.g. particles? What is the nature of the fundamental space (or space-time manifold) of quantum mechanics? What is the relationship between the fundamental ontology of quantum mechanics and ordinary, macroscopic objects like tables, chairs, and persons? This collection includes a comprehensive introduction with a history of quantum mechanics and the debate over its metaphysical interpretation focusing especially on the main realist alternatives.
Full Product Details
Author: David Albert (, Columbia University) ,
Alyssa Ney (, University of Rochester)
Publisher: Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint: Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:
Width: 23.10cm
, Height: 1.50cm
, Length: 15.50cm
Weight: 0.340kg
ISBN: 9780199790548
ISBN 10: 019979054
Pages: 244
Publication Date: 28 March 2013
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: To order
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Reviews
... the book is an excellent and enjoyable piece of philosophy, as one gets to see a single problem attacked from many distinct and compelling perspectives. If interested in the metaphysics of the quantum wavefunction, then this collection is a great choice. * Craig Callender, The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science * ...a highly recommended book. It brings a series of problems that are typically philosophical to the domain of quantum mechanics, and does so in an accessible way. * Decio Krause and Jonas R. B. Arenhart, Metascience * This is an uncommonly good collection of essays on the metaphysical foundations of quantum mechanics. It contains work on a compelling subject from a number of the most engaging philosophers of physics, and the overall standard of clarity is exceptional. * Jeffrey A. Barrett, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews * The essays target an audience of philosophers in science, but the book is also benecial for theoretical physicists. The book can be highly recommended for reader who are looking at the foundations of quantum theory. The book also provides a rich source of references also from a historical point of view. * Willi-Hans Steeb, Zentralblatt Math *
This is an uncommonly good collection of essays on the metaphysical foundations of quantum mechanics. It contains work on a compelling subject from a number of the most engaging philosophers of physics, and the overall standard of clarity is exceptional. --Jeffrey A. Barrett, Notre DamePhilosophical Reviews The wave function is perhaps the central representational tool that quantum physics uses to describe the world. But just what sort of physical reality does it represent? For too long, a physics too infected by instrumentalist tendencies ignored this question; but in recent decades, it has, happily, come to be viewed as absolutely central to a proper understanding of quantum physics. The Wave Function features ten commissioned essays by some of the sharpest physicists and philosophers working on this topic, framed by a masterful and comprehensive introductory essay that will make this volume readily accessible, even to the non-specialist. Wondering how to make sense of what quantum physics says about the world? Curious about the multifarious metaphysical and epistemological implications of what it says? Then this volume is for you. --Ned Hall, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University
<br> The wave function is perhaps the central representational tool that quantum physics uses to describe the world. But just what sort of physical reality does it represent? For too long, a physics too infected by instrumentalist tendencies ignored this question; but in recent decades, it has, happily, come to be viewed as absolutely central to a proper understanding of quantum physics. The Wave Function features ten commissioned essays by some of the sharpest physicists and philosophers working on this topic, framed by a masterful and comprehensive introductory essay that will make this volume readily accessible, even to the non-specialist. Wondering how to make sense of what quantum physics says about the world? Curious about the multifarious metaphysical and epistemological implications of what it says? Then this volume is for you. --Ned Hall, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University<p><br>
""This is an uncommonly good collection of essays on the metaphysical foundations of quantum mechanics. It contains work on a compelling subject from a number of the most engaging philosophers of physics, and the overall standard of clarity is exceptional.""--Jeffrey A. Barrett, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews ""The wave function is perhaps the central representational tool that quantum physics uses to describe the world. But just what sort of physical reality does it represent? For too long, a physics too infected by instrumentalist tendencies ignored this question; but in recent decades, it has, happily, come to be viewed as absolutely central to a proper understanding of quantum physics. The Wave Function features ten commissioned essays by some of the sharpest physicists and philosophers working on this topic, framed by a masterful and comprehensive introductory essay that will make this volume readily accessible, even to the non-specialist. Wondering how to make sense of what quantum physics says about the world? Curious about the multifarious metaphysical and epistemological implications of what it says? Then this volume is for you.""--Ned Hall, Department of Philosophy, Harvard University ""...the book is an excellent and enjoyable piece of philosophy, as one gets to see a single problem attacked from many distinct and compelling perspectives. If interested in the metaphysics of the quantum wavefunction, then this collection is a great choice."" -- The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
Author Information
Alyssa Ney is Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Rochester. She works primarily in metaphysics. David Z Albert is the author of Quantum Mechanics and Experience and Time and Chance and has published many articles on quantum mechanics, mostly in the Physical Review. He is Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy and Director of the M.A. Program in The Philosophical Foundations of Physics at Columbia University.
