Bridging the Gap: Philosophy, Mathematics, and Physics [electronic resource] : Lectures on the Foundations of Science / edited by Giovanna Corsi, Maria Luisa Dalla Chiara, Gian Carlo Ghirardi
Foundational questions in logic, mathematics, computer science and physics are constant sources of epistemological debate in contemporary philosophy. To what extent is the transfinite part of mathematics completely trustworthy? Why is there a general ̀malaise' concerning the logical approach to the foundations of mathematics? What is the role of symmetry in physics? Is it possible to build a coherent worldview compatible with a macroobjectivistic position and based on the quantum picture of the world? What account can be given of opinion change in the light of new evidence? These are some of the questions discussed in this volume, which collects 14 lectures on the foundation of science given at the School of Philosophy of Science, Trieste, October 1989. The volume will be of particular interest to any student or scholar engaged in interdisciplinary research into the foundations of science in the context of contemporary debates
CONTENT
I: Logic, Mathematics And Information -- Theory of Deduction -- An Introduction to Modal Semantics -- Complexity of Logical Decision Problems: An Introduction -- Remarks on Hilbertโs Program for the Foundation of Mathematics -- Working Foundations โ โ91 -- Minds and Brains, Algorithms and Machines -- Remarks on Information and Mind -- II: Physics And Probability -- Axioms and Paradoxes in Special Relativity -- The Quantum Worldview: Its Difficulties and An Attempt To Overcome Them -- Indeterminism, Nonseparability and the EinsteinโPodolskyโRosen Paradox -- Sigma-Convex Structures of the Sets of States and Probability Measures in Quantum Mechanics -- The โLogicalโ Approach to Axiomatic Quantum Theory -- Individuals, Kinds and Names in Physics -- Symmetries of Probability Kinematics -- Index of Names