Concept
Philosophy of physics
Overview
In philosophy, the philosophy of physics deals with conceptual and interpretational issues in physics, many of which overlap with research done by certain kinds of theoretical physicists. Historically, philosophers of physics have engaged with questions such as the nature of space, time, matter and the laws that govern their interactions, as well as the epistemological and ontological basis of the theories used by practicing physicists. The discipline draws upon insights from various areas of philosophy, including metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of science, while also engaging with the latest developments in theoretical and experimental physics.
Contemporary work focuses on issues at the foundations of the three pillars of modern physics:
Quantum mechanics: Interpretations of quantum theory, including the nature of quantum states, the measurement problem, and the role of observers. Implications of entanglement, nonlocality, and the quantum-classical relationship are also explored.
Relativity: Conceptual foundations of special and general relativity, including the nature of spacetime, simultaneity, causality, and determinism. Compatibility with quantum mechanics, gravitational singularities, and philosophical implications of cosmology are also investigated.
Statistical mechanics: Relationship between microscopic and macroscopic descriptions, interpretation of probability, origin of irreversibility and the arrow of time. Foundations of thermodynamics, role of information theory in understanding entropy, and implications for explanation and reduction in physics.
Other areas of focus include the nature of physical laws, symmetries, and conservation principles; the role of mathematics; and philosophical implications of emerging fields like quantum gravity, quantum information, and complex systems. Philosophers of physics have argued that conceptual analysis clarifies foundations, interprets implications, and guides theory development in physics.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
Found by search and not yet checked by a person; they may only mention the idea in passing.
It will accordingly be necessary thereafter to endeavour so to deduce from those principles the knowledge of the things that depend on them, as that there may be nothing in the whole series of deductions which is not perfectly manifest. God is in truth the only being who is absolutely wise, that is, who possesses a perfect knowledge of all things; but we may say that men are more or less wise as their knowledge of…
René Descartes, Selections from the Principles of Philosophy
States what Philosophy of physics is; the author is tied to Philosophy of physics in the knowledge graph.
367. Indeed, confusion springs, more often than not, from ambiguity in terms, and from one's failure to take trouble over gaining clear ideas about them. That gives rise to these eternal, and usually mistaken, contentions on necessity and contingency, on the possible and the impossible. But provided that it is understood that necessity and possibility, taken metaphysically and strictly, depend solely upon this…
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Theodicy Essays on the Goodness of God, the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil
States what Philosophy of physics is; the author is tied to Philosophy of physics in the knowledge graph.
I. Science, that is, Knowledge of Consequences; which is called also PHILOSOPHY A. Consequences from Accidents of Bodies Naturall; which is called NATURALL PHILOSOPHY 1. Consequences from the Accidents common to all Bodies Naturall; which are Quantity, and Motion. a. Consequences from Quantity, and Motion Indeterminate; which, being the Principles or first foundation of Philosophy, is called Philosophia Prima b…
Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan
States what Philosophy of physics is.
Philosophers who discussed Philosophy of physics
- Adolf Grünbaum
- Vandana Shiva
- Quentin Smith
- Huw Price
- Michael Friedman (philosopher)
- Paul Horwich
- Peter Forrest (philosopher)
- Jeffrey Bub
- Mark Steiner
Related ideas
- Aristotelian physics
- General relativity
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz
- Philosophy
- Isaac Newton
- Classical physics
- Loop quantum gravity
- Cosmology
- Metaphysics
- Mass
- Aether (classical element)
- Classical mechanics
- Theoretical physics
- Momentum
- Velocity
- Motion
- Nobel Prize
- Niels Bohr
- Ontology
- Probability
- Physics
- Photon
- Scientific law
- Quantum mechanics
Place in the tradition
Part of Outline of philosophy.
Narrower topics: