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1. John Earman
Philosopher
2. John Earman (born 1942) is a philosopher of physics. He is an emeritus professor in the History and Philosophy of Science department at the University of Pittsburgh. He has also taught at UCLA, the Rockefeller University, and the University of Minnesota, and was president of the Philosophy of Science Association. He received his PhD from Princeton in 1968.[1]
3. Born: March 30, 1942 (age 72)
4. Education: Princeton University (1968)
5. Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada
Causal Determinism
First published Thu Jan 23, 2003; substantive revision Thu Jan 21, 2010
Causal determinism is, roughly speaking, the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature. The idea is ancient, but first became subject to clarification and mathematical analysis in the eighteenth century. Determinism is deeply connected with our understanding of the physical sciences and their explanatory ambitions, on the one hand, and with our views about human free action on the other. In both of these general areas there is no agreement over whether determinism is true (or even whether it can be known true or false), and what the import for human agency would be in either case.
1. Introduction
2. Conceptual Issues in Determinism
2.1 The World
2.2 The way things are at a time t
2.3 Thereafter
2.4 Laws of nature
2.5 Fixed
3. The Epistemology of Determinism
3.1 Laws again
3.2 Experience
3.3 Determinism and Chaos
3.4 Metaphysical arguments
4. The Status of Determinism in Physical Theories
4.1 Classical mechanics
4.2 Special Relativistic physics
4.3 General Relativity (GTR)
4.4 Quantum mechanics
5. Chance and Determinism
6. Determinism and Human Action
Bibliography
Academic Tools
Other Internet Resources
Related Entries
1. Introduction
In most of what follows, I will speak simply of determinism, rather than of causal determinism. This follows recent
Philosopher
2. John Earman (born 1942) is a philosopher of physics. He is an emeritus professor in the History and Philosophy of Science department at the University of Pittsburgh. He has also taught at UCLA, the Rockefeller University, and the University of Minnesota, and was president of the Philosophy of Science Association. He received his PhD from Princeton in 1968.[1]
3. Born: March 30, 1942 (age 72)
4. Education: Princeton University (1968)
5. Awards: Guggenheim Fellowship for Humanities, US & Canada
Causal Determinism
First published Thu Jan 23, 2003; substantive revision Thu Jan 21, 2010
Causal determinism is, roughly speaking, the idea that every event is necessitated by antecedent events and conditions together with the laws of nature. The idea is ancient, but first became subject to clarification and mathematical analysis in the eighteenth century. Determinism is deeply connected with our understanding of the physical sciences and their explanatory ambitions, on the one hand, and with our views about human free action on the other. In both of these general areas there is no agreement over whether determinism is true (or even whether it can be known true or false), and what the import for human agency would be in either case.
1. Introduction
2. Conceptual Issues in Determinism
2.1 The World
2.2 The way things are at a time t
2.3 Thereafter
2.4 Laws of nature
2.5 Fixed
3. The Epistemology of Determinism
3.1 Laws again
3.2 Experience
3.3 Determinism and Chaos
3.4 Metaphysical arguments
4. The Status of Determinism in Physical Theories
4.1 Classical mechanics
4.2 Special Relativistic physics
4.3 General Relativity (GTR)
4.4 Quantum mechanics
5. Chance and Determinism
6. Determinism and Human Action
Bibliography
Academic Tools
Other Internet Resources
Related Entries
1. Introduction
In most of what follows, I will speak simply of determinism, rather than of causal determinism. This follows recent