Causal Reasoning in Physics - Hardcover

Frisch, Mathias

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1107031494 ISBN 13: 9781107031494

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Much has been written on the role of causal notions and causal reasoning in the so-called 'special sciences' and in common sense. But does causal reasoning also play a role in physics? Mathias Frisch argues that, contrary to what influential philosophical arguments purport to show, the answer is yes. Time-asymmetric causal structures are as integral a part of the representational toolkit of physics as a theory's dynamical equations. Frisch develops his argument partly through a critique of anti-causal arguments and partly through a detailed examination of actual examples of causal notions in physics, including causal principles invoked in linear response theory and in representations of radiation phenomena. Offering a new perspective on the nature of scientific theories and causal reasoning, this book will be of interest to professional philosophers, graduate students, and anyone interested in the role of causal thinking in science.

About this title

About the Author

Mathias Frisch is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1107031494
• ISBN 13: 9781107031494
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 264