New answers tagged time
2
votes
Is there any contemporary philosopher who defends the circularity of time?
I don't think there are in the Analytic tradition. But thinkers like Richard Rorty have been eroding the division.
"Rulers, statesmen and peoples are primarily referred to the lessons
of ...
- 22.9k
-1
votes
Is "presentism" just a proposed redefinition masquerading as a substantive thesis?
NEW: "There was at least one year in the 19th century when no European power was at war."
Based on my limited knowledge of European history, I'm gonna guess that NEW is false, at least when ...
- 197
0
votes
Are there probabilistic facts of the matter about the universe?
"Simple" statements about the past are always false or true.
I'm taking a stance of scientific realism here which I suppose is underlying your question as well. (I.e., there is an objective ...
- 2,625
-1
votes
Are there probabilistic facts of the matter about the universe?
Scientists accept physical laws, and facts derived from those laws by mathematical deduction, as true facts about the universe. In quantum mechanics, these facts can indeed take the form of ...
- 99
-1
votes
Are there probabilistic facts of the matter about the universe?
While in theory randomness is an intrinsic property, in practice, randomness is incomplete information.
Nassim Nicholas Taleb aka Nero
- 217
4
votes
Are there probabilistic facts of the matter about the universe?
Are there genuinely probabilistic facts about the universe?
The Bayesians vs. Frequentists debate in probability/statistics is very much related to this matter:
Bayesians view future in entirely ...
- 1,839
0
votes
Are there probabilistic facts of the matter about the universe?
No since facts are either true or false and there is no in between. There is no universe where God existing is “kind of/sort of” true. This applies to literally every fact for the very simple reason ...
- 333
3
votes
Accepted
Are there probabilistic facts of the matter about the universe?
Deterministic View (Probability as Epistemic):
All facts are binary, either true or false, in a deterministic cosmos. Probabilities are not an objective aspect of reality; rather, they reflect human ...
1
vote
Is "presentism" just a proposed redefinition masquerading as a substantive thesis?
But then you have paradoxes about how past things can cause present things, which they evidently do, without existing
the past does not exist, but the present is ever-changing, and these changes are ...
- 5,055
0
votes
Is "presentism" just a proposed redefinition masquerading as a substantive thesis?
Taking relativity into account, a person can identify events that are simultaneous to their self, but those events will not necessarily be simultaneous to others. Therefore presentism is relative. ...
- 6,492
3
votes
Is "presentism" just a proposed redefinition masquerading as a substantive thesis?
You are certainly correct to point out that much of the debate hinges on one's interpretation of the word exist, but that is no different to many other areas of philosophy where different views ...
- 24.8k
1
vote
Accepted
Which interpretations of quantum mechanics require a fundamental "arrow of time"?
The spontaneous collapse theory is an alternative to quantum theory with different equations of motion:
https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.14969
This theory has an arrow of time built into its postulates ...
- 8,160
-2
votes
Which interpretations of quantum mechanics require a fundamental "arrow of time"?
As a law of thumb, one can say that in all deterministic interpretations the laws are reversible. This includes MWI (Everett's) and de Brogle-Bohm interpretations.
Your assumption regarding Everett's ...
- 763
-2
votes
Which interpretations of quantum mechanics require a fundamental "arrow of time"?
Mechanics is reversible - whether quantum or classical. The irreversibility (arrow of time) appears either in statistical physics/thermodynamics or in cosmology. For technical discussion see Where ...
- 1,839
0
votes
Is there any reason, in the literature, to think that nothing has (or does not have) an fixed, intrinsic lifespan?
Intrinsic, yes. Fixed, no.
What I mean is that given a particular environment, yes, it's determined. But change the environment and not necessarily.
Caloric restriction shows that we can modify the ...
- 2,591
1
vote
If physics can be reduced to mathematics (and thus to logic), does this mean that (physical) causation is ultimately reducible to implication?
The simplest law of quantum physics ( Heisenberg's uncertainty principle ) states that you cannot accurately know the position and velocity of elementary particles. Therefore, by definition the future ...
- 111
-2
votes
If physics can be reduced to mathematics (and thus to logic), does this mean that (physical) causation is ultimately reducible to implication?
If physics can be reduced to mathematics (and thus to logic), does this mean that (physical) causation is ultimately reducible to implication?
The idea of reducing mathematics (or anything else) to ...
- 9,014
13
votes
If physics can be reduced to mathematics (and thus to logic), does this mean that (physical) causation is ultimately reducible to implication?
Bumble's answer is spot on, but I thought I'd show you the fallacy of your reasoning a little more concisely.
You are engaging a fallacy called reification. From WP:
Reification (also known as ...
- 31.6k
18
votes
Accepted
If physics can be reduced to mathematics (and thus to logic), does this mean that (physical) causation is ultimately reducible to implication?
Physics, or indeed any other science, does not reduce to mathematics. Rather, physical relationships are expressible in the language of mathematics. If you wish to state Coulomb's Law, you can use a ...
- 28.9k
2
votes
If physics can be reduced to mathematics (and thus to logic), does this mean that (physical) causation is ultimately reducible to implication?
A simple model of a universe is Conway's game of life. The universe in Conway's game of life is an infinite 2d grid of "live" (black) and "dead" (white) cells that change in ...
- 16.5k
Top 50 recent answers are included