LHC Black Holes: Why I’m Not Holding My Breath

…basic quantum theory and of general relativity. From GR, we need only the causal structure of black holes (which is now well accepted, and if we’re wrong about it, then there are no black holes anyway). And from QT we need little more than quantum fluctuations (consisting of particle/anti-particle pairs), which we have good empirical reason to believe in. So this isn’t one of those weird fringe cases where “quantum theory and gravity don’t mix.”…

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Get Started Reading Recent Classics on the Philosophy of Physics

…of QM Maudlin, Tim: Metaphysics Within Physics Maudlin, Tim: Quantum Non-locality & Relativity Penrose, Roger: The Emperor’s New Mind Price, Hugh: Time’s Arrow & Archimedes’ Point* Redhead, Michael: Incompleteness, Non-locality & Realism Redhead, Michael: From Physics to Metaphysics Sklar, Lawrence: Philosophy of Physics* Sklar, Lawrence: Physics & Chance* Teller, Paul: Interpretive Introduction to QFT van Fraassen, Bas: QM An Empiricist View Also…

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Galileo’s Manuscripts: Still Learning the Lesson

…this is small triangle is a scaled-down copy of the larger one, then the scaling rule will actually indicate which rule of freefall Galileo was considering. (It turns out to be the incorrect “double-distance” rule, which says that velocity in freefall is proportional to the square of the distance fallen.) Second: the languages used. While the top-left, top-middle, and bottom-most paragraphs are all written in Italian, the rest of the text is writ…

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Philosophy of Science Journals and Elsevier

…Oxford University Press Philosophical Quarterly Wiley-Blackwell Philosophical Review Duke University Press Philosophical Studies Springer Verlag Philosophy and Phenomenological Research Wiley-Blackwell Philosophy Compass Blackwell Publishing Philosophy of Science University of Chicago Press Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society Wiley-Blackwell Ratio Blackwell Publishing Review of Symbolic Logic Cambridge University Press Studia Logica Springer…

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Sellars and the Philosophy of Physics

…physics is the collection of empirical facts. Another is the prediction and justification of these facts. But the activity of investigating meaning is a distinct activity altogether. This last activity includes much of what concerns the philosophy of physics, when it is done well. Whether it be causation, equivalence, gauge, prediction, or simultaneity — among many examples — I think much of what distinguishes philosophy of physics from physics is…

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