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Author | : J. T. Ismael |
Publisher | : Oxford University Press |
Total Pages | : 256 |
Release | : 2016-02-03 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 0190269456 |
Download How Physics Makes Us Free Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
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 | : Jenann Ismael |
Publisher | : Oxford University Press |
Total Pages | : 289 |
Release | : 2016 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 0190269448 |
Download How Physics Makes Us Free Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
"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."c--Amazon.
Author | : Jenann Ismael |
Publisher | : Oxford University Press |
Total Pages | : 261 |
Release | : 2007-01-04 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 0195174364 |
Download The Situated Self Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This text focuses on the metaphysics and the philosophy of language and mind. It tackles a philosophical question whose origin goes back to Descartes: What am I? The self is not a mere thing among things - but if so, what is it, and what is its relationship to the world?
Author | : J T Ismael |
Publisher | : Oxford University Press, USA |
Total Pages | : 290 |
Release | : 2019-10-29 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : 9780190090586 |
Download How Physics Makes Us Free Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
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
Author | : Christopher G. De Pree, Ph.D. |
Publisher | : Crown |
Total Pages | : 208 |
Release | : 2010-03-31 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 0307434540 |
Download Physics Made Simple Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Understand the rules that make the universe run. Understanding the laws of physics is essential for all scientific studies, but many students are intimidated by their complexities. This completely revised and updated book makes it easy to understand the most important principles. From the physics of the everyday world to the theory of relativity, PHYSICS MADE SIMPLE covers it all. Each chapter is introduced by anecdotes that directly apply the concepts to contemporary life and ends with practice problems—with complete solutions—to reinforce the concepts. Humorous illustrations and stories complete the text, making it not only easy but fun to learn this important science. Topics covered include: *force *motion *energy *waves *electricity and magnetism *the atom *quantum physics *relativity *spectroscopy *particle physics Look for these Made Simple titles Accounting Made Simple Arithmetic Made Simple Astronomy Made Simple Biology Made Simple Bookkeeping Made Simple Business Letters Made Simple Chemistry Made Simple English Made Simple Earth Science Made Simple French Made Simple German Made Simple Ingles Hecho Facil Investing Made Simple Italian Made Simple Keyboarding Made Simple Latin Made Simple Learning English Made Simple Mathematics Made Simple The Perfect Business Plan Made Simple Philosophy Made Simple Psychology Made Simple Sign Language Made Simple Spelling Made Simple Statistics Made Simple Your Small Business Made Simple www.broadwaybooks.com
Author | : Christian List |
Publisher | : Harvard University Press |
Total Pages | : 225 |
Release | : 2019-05-06 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 0674239814 |
Download Why Free Will Is Real Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
A crystal-clear, scientifically rigorous argument for the existence of free will, challenging what many scientists and scientifically minded philosophers believe. Philosophers have argued about the nature and the very existence of free will for centuries. Today, many scientists and scientifically minded commentators are skeptical that it exists, especially when it is understood to require the ability to choose between alternative possibilities. If the laws of physics govern everything that happens, they argue, then how can our choices be free? Believers in free will must be misled by habit, sentiment, or religious doctrine. Why Free Will Is Real defies scientific orthodoxy and presents a bold new defense of free will in the same naturalistic terms that are usually deployed against it. Unlike those who defend free will by giving up the idea that it requires alternative possibilities to choose from, Christian List retains this idea as central, resisting the tendency to defend free will by watering it down. He concedes that free will and its prerequisites—intentional agency, alternative possibilities, and causal control over our actions—cannot be found among the fundamental physical features of the natural world. But, he argues, that’s not where we should be looking. Free will is a “higher-level” phenomenon found at the level of psychology. It is like other phenomena that emerge from physical processes but are autonomous from them and not best understood in fundamental physical terms—like an ecosystem or the economy. When we discover it in its proper context, acknowledging that free will is real is not just scientifically respectable; it is indispensable for explaining our world.
Author | : Max Jammer |
Publisher | : Courier Corporation |
Total Pages | : 288 |
Release | : 2012-07-31 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 0486150569 |
Download Concepts of Force Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
This work by a noted physicist traces conceptual development from ancient to modern times. Kepler's initiation, Newton's definition, subsequent reinterpretation — contrasting concepts of Leibniz, Boscovich, Kant with those of Mach, Kirchhoff, Hertz. "An excellent presentation." — Science.
Author | : Jenann Ismael |
Publisher | : Routledge |
Total Pages | : 228 |
Release | : 2014-01-14 |
Genre | : Philosophy |
ISBN | : 1135702454 |
Download Essays on Symmetry Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Drawing from physics and philosophical debates, Ismael combines a set of essays on the time worn debate of symmetry from both fields.
Author | : Antoine Suarez |
Publisher | : Springer Science & Business Media |
Total Pages | : 477 |
Release | : 2012-12-22 |
Genre | : Psychology |
ISBN | : 1461452120 |
Download Is Science Compatible with Free Will? Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
Anyone who claims the right ‘to choose how to live their life’ excludes any purely deterministic description of their brain in terms of genes, chemicals or environmental influences. For example, when an author of a text expresses his thoughts, he assumes that, in typing the text, he governs the firing of the neurons in his brain and the movement of his fingers through the exercise of his own free will: what he writes is not completely pre-determined at the beginning of the universe. Yet in the field of neuroscience today, determinism dominates. There is a conflict between the daily life conviction that a human being has free will, and deterministic neuroscience. When faced with this conflict two alternative positions are possible: Either human freedom is an illusion, or deterministic neuroscience is not the last word on the brain and will eventually be superseded by a neuroscience that admits processes not completely determined by the past. This book investigates whether it is possible to have a science in which there is room for human freedom. The book generally concludes that the world and the brain are governed to some extent by non-material agencies, and limited consciousness does not abolish free will and responsibility. The authors present perspectives coming from different disciplines (Neuroscience, Quantumphysics and Philosophy) and range from those focusing on the scientific background, to those highlighting rather more a philosophical analysis. However, all chapters share a common characteristic: they take current scientific observations and data as a basis from which to draw philosophical implications. It is these features that make this volume unique, an exceptional interdisciplinary approach combining scientific strength and philosophical profundity. We are convinced that it will strongly stimulate the debate and contribute to new insights in the mind-brain relationship.
Author | : Christine McKinley |
Publisher | : Penguin |
Total Pages | : 274 |
Release | : 2014-06-03 |
Genre | : Science |
ISBN | : 1101630094 |
Download Physics for Rock Stars Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
From the host of the History channel’s Brad Meltzer’s Decoded: the laws of the universe like you’ve never experienced them before. This approachable book explains the world of physics with clarity, humor, and a dash of adventure. Physics for Rock Stars is not a weighty treatise on science, but a personal tour of physics from a quirky friend. Anyone who’s ever wondered why nature abhors a vacuum, what causes magnetic attraction, or how to jump off a moving train or do a perfect stage dive will find answers and a few laughs too. No equations, numbers, or tricky concepts—just an inspiring and comical romp through the basics of physics and the beauty of the organized universe.