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In this book, Tim Maudlin, one of the world's leading philosophers of physics, offers a sophisticated, original introduction to the philosophy of quantum mechanics. The briefest, clearest, and most refined account of his influential approach to the subject, the book will be invaluable to all students of philosophy and physics. Quantum mechanics holds a unique place in the history of physics. It has produced the most accurate predictions of any scientific theory, but, more astonishing, there has never been any agreement about what the theory implies about physical reality. Maudlin argues that the very term "quantum theory" is a misnomer. A proper physical theory should clearly describe what is there and what it does--yet standard textbooks present quantum mechanics as a predictive recipe in search of a physical theory. In contrast, Maudlin explores three proper theories that recover the quantum predictions: the indeterministic wavefunction collapse theory of Ghirardi, Rimini, and Weber; the deterministic particle theory of deBroglie and Bohm; and the conceptually challenging Many Worlds theory of Everett. Each offers a radically different proposal for the nature of physical reality, but Maudlin shows that none of them are what they are generally taken to be.

Quantum theory --- Physics --- Relativity (Physics) --- Philosophy --- Philosophy. --- Physics - Philosophy --- Quantum theory - Philosophy

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A critical introduction to the long-standing debate concerning the conceptual foundations of quantum mechanics, and the problems the field has posed for physicists and philosophers from Einstein to the present.

Quantum theory --- Realism. --- Empiricism --- Philosophy --- Universals (Philosophy) --- Conceptualism --- Dualism --- Idealism --- Materialism --- Nominalism --- Positivism --- Rationalism --- Philosophy. --- Quantum theory - Philosophy.

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Classical mechanics and quantum mechanics are two of the most successful scientific theories ever discovered, and yet how they can describe the same world is far from clear: one theory is deterministic, the other indeterministic; one theory describes a world in which chaos is pervasive, the other a world in which chaos is absent. Focusing on the exciting field of 'quantum chaos', this book reveals that there is a subtle and complex relation between classical and quantum mechanics. It challenges the received view that classical and quantum mechanics are incommensurable, and revives another, largely forgotten tradition due to Niels Bohr and Paul Dirac. By artfully weaving together considerations from the history of science, philosophy of science, and contemporary physics, this book offers a new way of thinking about intertheory relations and scientific explanation. It will be of particular interest to historians and philosophers of science, philosophically-inclined physicists, and interested non-specialists.

Quantum theory --- Physics --- Philosophy --- History --- Quantum theory. --- Philosophy. --- History. --- Quantum dynamics --- Quantum mechanics --- Quantum physics --- Mechanics --- Thermodynamics --- General and Others --- Physics - Philosophy --- Quantum theory - History --- Quantum theory - Philosophy

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Foundations of Relational Realism presents an intuitive interpretation of quantum mechanics, based on a revised decoherent histories interpretation, structured within a category theoretic topological formalism. More broadly, as a philosophical enterprise, the authors propose this conceptual framework as a speculative ontological program that includes a rigorous mathematical formalism, providing a coherent and intuitive ontological scheme that is both novel and applicable practically to the physical sciences.

Quantum logic. --- Quantum theory --- Philosophy of nature. --- Nature --- Nature, Philosophy of --- Natural theology --- Algebraic logic --- Mathematical physics --- Philosophy. --- Philosophy --- Quantum theory - Philosophy --- Philosophy of nature --- Quantum logic

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This book is the first to offer a systematic account of the role of language in the development and interpretation of physics. An historical-conceptual analysis of the co-evolution of mathematical and physical concepts leads ti the classical/quatum interface. Bohrian orthodoxy stresses the indispensability of classical concepts and the functional role of mathematics. We analyze ways of extending and then going beyond this orthodoxy orthodoxy. Finally, the book analyzes how a revised interpretation of physics impacts on basic philosophical issues: conceptual revolutions, realism, and reductionism.

Quantum theory -- Philosophy. --- Quantum theory --- Philosophy & Religion --- Physics --- Physical Sciences & Mathematics --- Physics - General --- Philosophy --- Atomic Physics --- Physics. --- Quantum theory. --- Quantum dynamics --- Quantum mechanics --- Quantum physics --- Natural philosophy --- Philosophy, Natural --- Philosophy. --- History. --- Philosophy and science. --- Philosophy of Science. --- Physics, general. --- History of Science. --- Physical sciences --- Dynamics --- Mechanics --- Thermodynamics --- Science --- Normal science --- Philosophy of science --- Annals --- Auxiliary sciences of history --- Science and philosophy