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Author: J. T. Ismael Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190269456 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 289
Book Description
In 1687 Isaac Newton ushered in a new scientific era in which laws of nature could be used to predict the movements of matter with almost perfect precision. Newton's physics also posed a profound challenge to our self-understanding, however, for the very same laws that keep airplanes in the air and rivers flowing downhill tell us that it is in principle possible to predict what each of us will do every second of our entire lives, given the early conditions of the universe. Can it really be that even while you toss and turn late at night in the throes of an important decision and it seems like the scales of fate hang in the balance, that your decision is a foregone conclusion? Can it really be that everything you have done and everything you ever will do is determined by facts that were in place long before you were born? This problem is one of the staples of philosophical discussion. It is discussed by everyone from freshman in their first philosophy class, to theoretical physicists in bars after conferences. And yet there is no topic that remains more unsettling, and less well understood. If you want to get behind the façade, past the bare statement of determinism, and really try to understand what physics is telling us in its own terms, read this book. The problem of free will raises all kinds of questions. What does it mean to make a decision, and what does it mean to say that our actions are determined? What are laws of nature? What are causes? What sorts of things are we, when viewed through the lenses of physics, and how do we fit into the natural order? Ismael provides a deeply informed account of what physics tells us about ourselves. The result is a vision that is abstract, alien, illuminating, and-Ismael argues-affirmative of most of what we all believe about our own freedom. Written in a jargon-free style, How Physics Makes Us Free provides an accessible and innovative take on a central question of human existence.
Author: J. T. Ismael Publisher: Oxford University Press ISBN: 0190269456 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 289
Book Description
In 1687 Isaac Newton ushered in a new scientific era in which laws of nature could be used to predict the movements of matter with almost perfect precision. Newton's physics also posed a profound challenge to our self-understanding, however, for the very same laws that keep airplanes in the air and rivers flowing downhill tell us that it is in principle possible to predict what each of us will do every second of our entire lives, given the early conditions of the universe. Can it really be that even while you toss and turn late at night in the throes of an important decision and it seems like the scales of fate hang in the balance, that your decision is a foregone conclusion? Can it really be that everything you have done and everything you ever will do is determined by facts that were in place long before you were born? This problem is one of the staples of philosophical discussion. It is discussed by everyone from freshman in their first philosophy class, to theoretical physicists in bars after conferences. And yet there is no topic that remains more unsettling, and less well understood. If you want to get behind the façade, past the bare statement of determinism, and really try to understand what physics is telling us in its own terms, read this book. The problem of free will raises all kinds of questions. What does it mean to make a decision, and what does it mean to say that our actions are determined? What are laws of nature? What are causes? What sorts of things are we, when viewed through the lenses of physics, and how do we fit into the natural order? Ismael provides a deeply informed account of what physics tells us about ourselves. The result is a vision that is abstract, alien, illuminating, and-Ismael argues-affirmative of most of what we all believe about our own freedom. Written in a jargon-free style, How Physics Makes Us Free provides an accessible and innovative take on a central question of human existence.
Author: Adrian Bejan Publisher: Springer Nature ISBN: 3030340090 Category : Technology & Engineering Languages : en Pages : 160
Book Description
The book begins with familiar designs found all around and inside us (such as the ‘trees’ of river basins, human lungs, blood and city traffic). It then shows how all flow systems are driven by power from natural engines everywhere, and how they are endlessly shaped because of freedom. Finally, Professor Bejan explains how people, like everything else that moves on earth, are driven by power derived from our “engines” that consume fuel and food, and that our movement dissipates the power completely and changes constantly for greater access, economies of scale, efficiency, innovation and life. Written for wide audiences of all ages, including readers interested in science, patterns in nature, similarity and non-uniformity, history and the future, and those just interested in having fun with ideas, the book shows how many “design change” concepts acquire a solid scientific footing and how they exist with the evolution of nature, society, technology and science.
Author: Daniel S. Koltun Publisher: Wiley-VCH ISBN: Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 344
Book Description
This advanced text/reference presents the quantum theory of systems having many degrees of freedom, either because the systems contain many particles, or because of the possibility of particle creation or annihilation, or both. Theoretical techniques begin at the second quantization and the elements of quantum field theory, including pairing and tunneling, leading to diagrammatic methods for the many-body problem and for scattering theory. Presentation is self-contained and includes many examples and problems.
Author: Donald W. Braben Publisher: John Wiley & Sons ISBN: 0470245719 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 198
Book Description
Scientific Freedom outlines what needs to be done to restore the freedom that can transform scientific understanding. The author defines Transformative Research (Venture Research) and explains how an initiative might be designed and implemented; discusses the revolutionary concept of low-risk, high-reward research; explains the wider significance of instability, and introduces the formidable Damocles Zone; explores threats to the university as an institution; and describes how a Transformative Research initiative might work in practice.
Author: Michael Abraham Publisher: ISBN: 9781983991035 Category : Languages : en Pages : 590
Book Description
So how can we know if human beings really have free will? The question of whether or not we have free will (libertarianism) has accompanied us since the beginning of philosophy and history. In recent years, the issue has started to move from philosophy into the field of science, especially neuroscience. This book shows that scientific findings do not decisively demonstrate the correctness of any answer, and that the question is still a philosophical one. It begins by defining the relevant terms, primarily free will and determinism, showing that incautious definitions lead to quite a few errors in the discussion of these issues. For answers, check with philosophers and thinkers! Examining the issue of free will from various angles, in clear, accessible language for the educated reader, it offers a consistent and systematic basis for a libertarian approach that is in accordance with scientific findings, showing that it arises naturally from considerations of common sense and various philosophical aspects. Scroll up now to get your copy of The Science of Freedom!
Author: Mariam Thalos Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1317394941 Category : Philosophy Languages : en Pages : 320
Book Description
In A Social Theory of Freedom, Mariam Thalos argues that the theory of human freedom should be a broadly social and political theory, rather than a theory that places itself in opposition to the issue of determinism. Thalos rejects the premise that a theory of freedom is fundamentally a theory of the metaphysics of constraint and, instead, lays out a political conception of freedom that is closely aligned with questions of social identity, self-development in contexts of intimate relationships, and social solidarity. Thalos argues that whether a person is free (in any context) depends upon a certain relationship of fit between that agent’s conception of themselves (both present and future), on the one hand, and the facts of their circumstances, on the other. Since relationships of fit are broadly logical, freedom is a logic—it is the logic of fit between one’s aspirations and one’s circumstances, what Thalos calls the logic of agency. The logic of agency, once fleshed out, becomes a broadly social and political theory that encompasses one’s self-conceptions as well as how these self-conceptions are generated, together with how they fit with the circumstances of one’s life. The theory of freedom proposed in this volume is fundamentally a political one.
Author: Rudolf Steiner Publisher: SteinerBooks ISBN: 1621511731 Category : Body, Mind & Spirit Languages : en Pages : 261
Book Description
Dr. Ehrenfreied Pfeiffer writes: "Research carried on since 1925 has shown that the formation and arrangement of crystals during the process of crystallization can, under certain conditions, be greatly influenced by the admixture of various substances.... Hence, from these alterations (in form) apriori conclusions can be drawn about the qualities and characteristics of the admixture itself." This is an essential element in his work of analyzing the health and qualities of human blood as an aid in the process of diagnoses.
Author: Audra J. Wolfe Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press ISBN: 1421439085 Category : Science Languages : en Pages : 313
Book Description
Closing in the present day with a discussion of the 2017 March for Science and the prospects for science and science diplomacy in the Trump era, the book demonstrates the continued hold of Cold War thinking on ideas about science and politics in the United States.
Author: J. T. Ismael
Author: J. T. Ismael
Author: Adrian Bejan
Author: Daniel S. Koltun
Author: Donald W. Braben
Author: Michael Abraham
Author: Dieter Suter
Author: Mariam Thalos
Author: Rudolf Steiner
Author: Audra J. Wolfe
Author: Robert Carkhuff