Ebook: Constituting Objectivity: Transcendental Perspectives on Modern Physics

In recent years, many philosophers of modern physics came to the conclusion that the problem of how objectivity is constituted (rather than merely given) can no longer be avoided, and therefore that a transcendental approach in the spirit of Kant is now philosophically relevant. The usual excuse for skipping this task is that the historical form given by Kant to transcendental epistemology has been challenged by Relativity and Quantum Physics. However, the true challenge is not to force modern physics into a rigidly construed static version of Kant's philosophy, but to provide Kant's method with flexibility and generality.

In this book, the top specialists of the field pin down the methodological core of transcendental epistemology that must be used in order to throw light on the foundations of modern physics. First, the basic tools Kant used for his transcendental reading of Newtonian Mechanics are examined, and then early transcendental approaches of Relativistic and Quantum Physics are revisited. Transcendental procedures are also applied to contemporary physics, and this renewed transcendental interpretation is finally compared with structural realism and constructive empiricism. The book will be of interest to scientists, historians and philosophers who are involved in the foundational problems of modern physics.

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In recent years, many philosophers of modern physics came to the conclusion that the problem of how objectivity is constituted (rather than merely given) can no longer be avoided, and therefore that a transcendental approach in the spirit of Kant is now philosophically relevant. The usual excuse for skipping this task is that the historical form given by Kant to transcendental epistemology has been challenged by Relativity and Quantum Physics. However, the true challenge is not to force modern physics into a rigidly construed static version of Kant's philosophy, but to provide Kant's method with flexibility and generality.

In this book, the top specialists of the field pin down the methodological core of transcendental epistemology that must be used in order to throw light on the foundations of modern physics. First, the basic tools Kant used for his transcendental reading of Newtonian Mechanics are examined, and then early transcendental approaches of Relativistic and Quantum Physics are revisited. Transcendental procedures are also applied to contemporary physics, and this renewed transcendental interpretation is finally compared with structural realism and constructive empiricism. The book will be of interest to scientists, historians and philosophers who are involved in the foundational problems of modern physics.

 

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In recent years, many philosophers of modern physics came to the conclusion that the problem of how objectivity is constituted (rather than merely given) can no longer be avoided, and therefore that a transcendental approach in the spirit of Kant is now philosophically relevant. The usual excuse for skipping this task is that the historical form given by Kant to transcendental epistemology has been challenged by Relativity and Quantum Physics. However, the true challenge is not to force modern physics into a rigidly construed static version of Kant's philosophy, but to provide Kant's method with flexibility and generality.

In this book, the top specialists of the field pin down the methodological core of transcendental epistemology that must be used in order to throw light on the foundations of modern physics. First, the basic tools Kant used for his transcendental reading of Newtonian Mechanics are examined, and then early transcendental approaches of Relativistic and Quantum Physics are revisited. Transcendental procedures are also applied to contemporary physics, and this renewed transcendental interpretation is finally compared with structural realism and constructive empiricism. The book will be of interest to scientists, historians and philosophers who are involved in the foundational problems of modern physics.

 

Content:
Front Matter....Pages i-viii
Introduction....Pages 1-30
Newton and Kant on Absolute Space: From Theology to Transcendental Philosophy....Pages 35-50
On Kant's Transcendental Account of Newtonian Mechanics....Pages 51-72
Ernst Cassirer: Open Constitution by Functional A Priori and Symbolical Structuring....Pages 75-93
On the Transposition of the Substantial into the Functional: Bringing Cassirer's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics into the Twenty-First Century....Pages 95-115
Moritz Schlick: Between Synthetic A Priori Judgment and Conventionalism....Pages 117-126
Carnap's Relativised A Priori and Ontology....Pages 127-143
The Transcendental Domain of Physics....Pages 149-158
Determinism, Determination, and Objectivity in Modern Physics....Pages 159-168
The Constitution of Objects in Classical Physics and in Quantum Physics....Pages 169-181
Laws of Nature: The Kantian Approach....Pages 183-201
The Transcendental Role of the Principle of Anticipations of Perception in Quantum Mechanics....Pages 203-213
Can the Principle of Least Action Be Considered a Relativized A Priori?....Pages 215-227
A Critical Account of Physical Reality....Pages 229-248
A Cognizable Universe: Transcendental Arguments in Physical Cosmology....Pages 253-267
Hermann Weyl and “First Philosophy”: Constituting Gauge Invariance....Pages 269-278
Old Wine Enriched in New Bottles: Kantian Flavors in Bohr's Viewpoint of Complementarity....Pages 279-298
A Transcendental Account of Correspondence and Complementarity....Pages 301-316
The Convergence of Transcendental Philosophy and Quantum Physics: Grete Henry-Hermann's 1935 Pioneering Proposal....Pages 317-327
Decoherence and the Constitution of Objectivity....Pages 329-344
The Entangled Roots of Objective Knowledge....Pages 347-357
Can Classical Description of Physical Reality Be Considered Complete?....Pages 359-374
A View of the Symbolic Structure of Modern Physics....Pages 375-386
Symbolic Constructions in Quantum Field Theory....Pages 389-402
Noncommutative Geometry and Transcendental Physics....Pages 403-413
Can Empiricism Leave Its Realism Behind? Toward a Dialogue with Transcendentalists....Pages 415-455
A Physicist's Approach to Kant....Pages 459-479
Structural Realism and Abductive-Transcendental Arguments....Pages 481-490
Provisional Knowledge....Pages 491-501
Back Matter....Pages 503-514
....Pages 515-544