Formal Semantics and Logic

Politics & Social Sciences

van Fraassen, Bas. C.

Philosophy

Macmillan

After introducing the empiricist point of view in philosophy of science, and the concepts and methods of the semantic approach to scientific theories, van Fraassen discusses quantum theory in three stages. He first examines the question of whether and how empirical phenomena require a non-classical theory, and what sort of theory they require. He then discusses the mathematical foundations of quantum theory with special reference to developments in the modelling of interaction, composite systems, and measurement. Finally, the author broaches the main questions of interpretation. After offering a critique of earlier interpretations, he develops a new one--the modal interpretation--which attempts to stay close to the original Copenhagen ideas without implying a radical incompleteness in quantum theory. He again gives special attention to the character of composite, many-body systems and especially to the peculiar character of assemblies of identical particles in quantum statistics.

Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View (Clarendon Paperbacks)

Reference

Words, Language & Grammar

Clarendon Press

Winner of the Lakatos Award for Philosophy of Science presented at the London School of Economics, February 1987.

The Scientific Image (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

Business & Money

Economics

Oxford University Press

In this book Van Fraassen develops an alternative to scientific realism by constructing and evaluating three mutually reinforcing theories.

Metaphysicians speak of laws of nature in terms of necessity and universality; scientists, in terms of symmetry and invariance. In this book van Fraassen argues that no metaphysical account of laws can succeed. He analyzes and rejects the arguments that there are laws of nature, or that we must believe there are, and argues that we should disregard the idea of law as an adequate clue to science. After exploring what this means for general epistemology, the author develops the empiricist view of science as a construction of models to represent the phenomena.

Laws and Symmetry (Clarendon Paperbacks)

After introducing the empiricist point of view in philosophy of science, and the concepts and methods of the semantic approach to scientific theories, van Fraassen discusses quantum theory in three stages. He first examines the question of whether and how empirical phenomena require a non-classical theory, and what sort of theory they require. He then discusses the mathematical foundations of quantum theory with special reference to developments in the modelling of interaction, composite systems, and measurement. Finally, the author broaches the main questions of interpretation. After offering a critique of earlier interpretations, he develops a new one--the modal interpretation--which attempts to stay close to the original Copenhagen ideas without implying a radical incompleteness in quantum theory. He again gives special attention to the character of composite, many-body systems and especially to the peculiar character of assemblies of identical particles in quantum statistics.

Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View

Science & Math

History & Philosophy

Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective

Bas C. van Fraassen presents an original exploration of how we represent the world. Science represents natural phenomena by means of theories, as well as in many concrete ways by such means as pictures, graphs, table-top models, and computer simulations. Scientific Representation begins with an inquiry into the nature of representation in general, drawing on such diverse sources as Plato's dialogues, the development of perspectival drawing in the Renaissance, and the geometric styles of modelling in modern physics. Starting with Mach's and Poincaré's analyses of measurement and the "problem of coordination," van Fraassen then presents a view of measurement outcomes as representations. With respect to the theories of contemporary science he defends an empiricist structuralist version of the "picture theory" of science, through an inquiry into the paradoxes that came to light in twentieth-century philosophies of science. Van Fraassen concludes with an analysis of the complex relationship between appearance and reality in the scientific world-picture.

Bas C. van Fraassen presents an original exploration of how we represent the world. Science represents natural phenomena by means of theories, as well as in many concrete ways by such means as pictures, graphs, table-top models, and computer simulations. Scientific Representation begins with an inquiry into the nature of representation in general, drawing on such diverse sources as Plato's dialogues, the development of perspectival drawing in the Renaissance, and the geometric styles of modelling in modern physics. Starting with Mach's and Poincare's analyses of measurement and the 'problem of coordination', van Fraassen then presents a view of measurement outcomes as representations. With respect to the theories of contemporary science he defends an empiricist structuralist version of the 'picture theory' of science, through an inquiry into the paradoxes that came to light in twentieth-century philosophies of science. Van Fraassen concludes with an analysis of the complex relationship between appearance and reality in the scientific world-picture.

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space

Columbia Univ. Pr.

An introductory, historical survey of philosophical positions on space and time, through the special theory of relativity and the causal theory of time.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by van Fraassen, Bas. C.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by van Fraassen, Bas. C.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by van Fraassen, Bas. C.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Formal Semantics and Logic

Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View (Clarendon Paperbacks)

The Scientific Image (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

The Scientific Image (Clarendon Library of Logic and Philosophy)

Laws and Symmetry (Clarendon Paperbacks)

Quantum Mechanics: An Empiricist View

Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective

Scientific Representation: Paradoxes of Perspective

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space

An Introduction to the Philosophy of Time and Space