: Matthias Egg
: Scientific Realism in Particle Physics A Causal Approach
: Walter de Gruyter GmbH& Co.KG
: 9783110383515
: Epistemische Studien / Epistemic StudiesISSN
: 1
: CHF 110.90
:
: 20. und 21. Jahrhundert
: English
: 200
: Wasserzeichen/DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB/PDF
< >Does particle physics really describe the basic constituents of the material world or is it just a useful tool for deriving empirical predictions? This book proposes a novel answer to that question, emphasizing the importance of causal reasoning for the justification of scientific claims. It thereby responds to general worries about scientific realism as well as to more specific challenges stemming from the interpretation of quantum physics.



< >Matthias Egg, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Contents9
Preface5
Part I. The Recent Debate on Scientific Realism11
1. Scientific Realism and Its Relation to Common Sense13
1.1 Key Arguments Surrounding Scientific Realism14
1.2 Scientific Realism without Common Sense Realism?23
2. Entity Realism29
2.1 From Theories to Entities30
2.2 Is Manipulability an Adequate Criterion of Reality?33
2.3 From Manipulation to Explanation38
3. NOA and the Vices of the Realism Debate43
3.1 In Defense of Interpretation43
3.2 The Principle of Fairness50
3.3 NOA, Entity Realism, and the Homely Line54
Part II. Causal Realism57
4. Causal vs. Theoretical Warrant59
4.1 Criterion 1: Non-redundancy60
4.2 Criterion 2: Material Inference64
4.3 Criterion 3: Empirical Adequacy69
4.4 Causal Realism’s Advantages over Entity Realism72
5. Causal Warrant for the Neutrino: A Case Study77
5.1 Bohr and Pauli on Beta Decay77
5.2 The Impact of Fermi’s Theory and the Need for Direct Detection79
5.3 The Detection of the Neutrino by Reines and Cowan82
6. The Problem of Unconceived Alternatives89
6.1 Previous Attempts to Undermine the PUA90
6.2 Causal Knowledge as a Criterion for the Realist95
6.3 Causal Realism, Unconceived Alternatives, and the Atomic Hypothesis102
Part III. The Quantum Challenge113
7. Causal Realism in the Context of Bell-Type Experiments115
7.1 Bell-Experiments: Causal Warrant for Superluminal Causation115
7.2 Causal Realism and Underdetermination in Quantum Mechanics124
7.3 Some Experimental Constraints on Explanations for EPR132
8. Delayed-Choice Experiments and the Metaphysics of Entanglement?147
8.1 Delayed Choice in the Double-Slit Experiment149
8.2 The Quantum Eraser150
8.3 Delayed-Choice Entanglement Swapping155
9. Particle Physics without Particles? On Causal Realism in Quantum Field Theory159
9.1 Against Localizability: Malament’s Theorem and Its Generalizations159
9.2 Against Countability: Unruh Effect and Interacting Fields164
9.3 Defending Localizability and Countability171
9.4 Concluding Remarks on Realism, Fundamentalism, and QFT179
Bibliography185
Index197