Pragmatism Works : Essays on Quantum Theory, Science, and Metaphysics.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Healey, Richard.

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource (618 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2026.

Summary:

This collection draws together a selection of Richard Healey's essays on the philosophy of physics. The essays apply ideas from pragmatist philosophy to offer a view of science and metaphysics, and especially of quantum theory.

Contents:

Cover

Half Title

Title Page

Copyright Page

Contents

Figures

Preface and Acknowledgments

Introduction

1 What Led to These Essays

2 Quantum Theory

3 Metaphysics

4 Quantum Theory's Place in Science

5 Lessons of Quantum Theory

6 A Developing View

7 Pragmatist Realism without Metaphysics

References

PART 1 INITIAL FORMULATION OFA PRAGMATIST VIEW

1 Quantum Theory: A Pragmatist Approach

1 Introduction

2 The objectivity of quantum probabilities

2.1 Quantum probabilities are objective

2.2 Quantum probabilities do not represent physical reality

3 How quantum theory limits description of physical reality

4 The relational nature of quantum states

4.1 Rovelli's relationism

4.2 Quantum Bayesian relationism

4.3 Reference-frame relationism

4.4 Agent-situation relationism and wave-collapse

4.5 Why quantum probabilities are not Lewisian chances

5 The objectivity of physical description in quantum theory

5.1 Why violations of Bell Inequalities involve no physical non-locality

5.2 Objectivity, inter-subjectivity and Wigner's friend

6 Conclusion

2 Quantum Decoherence in a Pragmatist View: Dispelling Feynman's Mystery

2 The function of the quantum state

3 The content and credibility of property claims

3.1 A simple model of decoherence

3.2 The content of property claims in this simple model

3.3 The Born Rule in the simple model

4 Examples of property claims and use of the Born Rule

4.1 Molecular interference lithography of C60

4.2 Influence of molecular temperature on C70 coherence

4.3 Quantum theory in the universe

5 Summary and outlook

3 How Quantum Theory Helps Us Explain

2 Two requirements on explanations in physics

3 What we can use quantum theory to explain.

4 The function of quantum states and Born probabilities

5 How these functions contribute to the explanatory task

6 Example 1: Single particle interference

7 Example 2: Explanation of the stability of matter

8 Example 3: Bose condensation

9 Conclusion

4 How to Use Quantum Theory Locally to Explain EPR-Bell Correlations

2 Bell's Route from Local Causality to Factorizability

3 A Pragmatist Interpretation of Quantum Theory

4 How This Helps Explain EPR-Bell Correlations

5 Causality and Relativity

5 Observation and Quantum Objectivity

2 Objectivity

3 Wigner's Friend

4 A Pragmatist Interpretation

5 Paradox Resolved

6 Objectivity Secured

7 Independent Verifiability

8 Conclusion

6 Quantum Meaning

2 Two functions of the quantum state

3 The content of magnitude claims

4 Some conceptual mutations

5 The content of denoting terms

PART 2 FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF THE VIEW

7 Quantum Decoherence in a Pragmatist View: Resolving the Measurement Problem

2 The classic measurement problem

3 How to Dissolve It

4 The Residual Measurement Problem

5 How to Resolve It

6 Measuring Photons

7 Quantum Fields

8 Causality and Chance in Relativistic Quantum Field Theories

2 Local Causality

3 Quantum States and Born Probabilities

4 Counterfactuals and Causation

5 Microcausality

6 Extraordinary Quantum Mechanics

7 Conclusion

9 Local Causality, Probability, and Explanation

2 Locality and Local Causality

3 Probability and Chance

4 Chance and Causation

5 A View of Quantum Mechanics

6 How to Use Quantum Mechanics to Explain Non-localized Correlations.

References

10 A Pragmatist-Inferentialist Account of the "Semantics" of Quantum Theory

2 Preliminaries

2.1 What Is a Theory?

2.2 What Is Quantum Theory?

2.3 What Is Inferentialist Pragmatism?

3 Challenges to Inferentialist Pragmatism

3.1 Holism

3.2 Compositionality

3.3 Conceptual Change

4 Quantum Models and their Application

5 How Applicational Claims Acquire Content

5.1 Born Probability Statements

5.2 Quantum State Assignments

5.3 Canonical Magnitude Claims

6 Holism and Conceptual Change

11 Quantum States as Objective Informational Bridges

2 Quantum states: Objective but relational

3 Some applications

4 Information in quantum teleportation

5 Conclusion

12 Quantum Theory and the Limits of Objectivity

2 Brukner's Argument

3 Frauchiger and Renner's Argument

4 A Third Argument

6 Appendix

Postscript (2024)

PART 3 OTHER VIEWS COMPARED

13 Science without Representation

14 Quantum Theory: Realism or Pragmatism?

2 The function of a quantum state

3 Why there is no measurement problem

4 Why there is no quantum non-locality

5 What is quantum theory about?

6 What about scientific realism?

7 A quantum challenge to metaphysical realism

15 Is Quantum Mechanics a New Theory of Probability?

2 Quantum Measure Theory

3 Quantum Gambles

4 Objective Knowledge of Quantum Events

5 A Pragmatist View of Quantum Probability

16 Representation and the Quantum State

2 How quantum states may be represented

3 Quantum states are not physical entities

4 Quantum states are not physical magnitudes.

5 A quantum state does not represent any (intrinsic) physical properties

6 A quantum state is an extrinsically physical property of a system

7 Is a quantum state representational?

8 Three kinds of linguistic innovation

9 What quantum states may represent, and why this makes them modal

10 Representationalism and the quantum state

17 The Measurement Problem for Emergent Spacetime in Loop Quantum Gravity

2 Rovelli's Relational Quantum Mechanics

2.1 What Is a State?

2.2 Systems, Interactions, and Processes: Quantum Mechanics

2.3 Systems, Interactions, and Processes: Quantum Field Theory

3 Loop Quantum Gravity

3.1 Systems, States, and Interactions in Loop Quantum Gravity

4 The Measurement Problem

5 Relational Loop Quantum Gravity

6 The Measurement Problem in Relational Loop Quantum Gravity

7 Morals of the Story

18 Securing the Objectivity of Relative Facts in the Quantum World

2 Where We Agree

3 Two Problems in RQM

4 Two Pragmatist Solutions

5 What Are Relative Facts?

6 RQM Relative Facts Are Not Strongly Relative

7 Relativism

PART 4 PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAYS: PRAGMATISTREALISM WITHOUT METAPHYSICS

19 The World as We Know It

2 Historical Background

3 Classical Field Theory and Existence Monism

4 The Problematic Ontology of Quantum Field Theories

5 A Monist Physical Ontology?

6 A Pragmatist Alternative

20 A Pragmatist View of the Metaphysics of Entanglement

2 How It All Began

3 What Is Entanglement?

4 Metaphysical Prospects

5 "Orthodox" Prospectors

6 Unorthodox Interpretations

7 Quantum States as Objective Prescriptions

8 Entanglement's Explanatory Role

9 No Grounds for Entanglement or Nonseparability.

9.1 Backing Is Not Grounding

9.2 Quantum Connection by Common Causes, Not Grounds

10 Quantum Fool's Gold

11 Conclusion

21 Pragmatist Quantum Realism

2 What Is Quantum Realism?

2.1 Realism

2.2 Scientific Realism

2.3 Naive Realism

2.4 Wave Function Realism

2.5 Spacetime State Realism

2.6 Should a Realist about Quantum Theory Be a Quantum Scientific Realist?

3 Participatory Realism

4 Representation and a Pragmatist Alternative

5 Is This Instrumentalism?

6 No Ontological Model?

7 Is This Pragmatist View Explanatory?

8 Truth

9 The Limits of Quantum Objectivity

10 Scientific Realism as an Empirical Thesis

11 How to Be a Quantum Realist

22 On the Independent Emergence of Space-time

2 Fundamentality and Emergence

3 How Light Emerges within a Quantum Field Theory

4 The Quantum State is not a Beable

5 How Space-time Might Emerge in Quantum Gravity

6 What Makes Such Emergence Independent

7 Fundamentality: Physical and Metaphysical

23 A Pragmatist Perspective on Causation, Laws, and Explanation

2 Causation

3 Explanation

4 Laws

5 Emergence and the Life World

6 Downward Causation

7 Program Explanation

8 The Mind

24 Laws of Nature as Epistemic Infrastructure Not Metaphysical Superstructure

2 What Is a Law of Nature?

3 Laws as Inference Tickets

4 Laws Extend Our Knowledge

5 Laws Guide Theoretical Modeling

6 Laws Align Individual Actions

7 Are Laws True?

8 Laws and Naturalistic Metaphysics

25 Scientific Objectivity and Its Limits

2 Analysing the Paradox

3 Semantic Contextuality

4 Limits on Assessment

5 Facts and the Limits of Truth.

6 Scientific Objectivity Reassessed and Reasserted.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-19-891158-0

0-19-891157-2

9780198911579

OCLC:

1559866170