Lawrence Sklar
Biographic Data
| ID | 1043459 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lawrence Sklar |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lawrence |
| FAMILY NAME | Sklar |
| SIGNATURE | SKLAR L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Michigan |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 86 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 28 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1967 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Philosophy of Physics
Philosophy and the Foundations of Dynamics
Although now replaced by more modern theories, classical mechanics remains a core foundational element of physical theory. From its inception, the theory of dynamics has been riddled with conceptual issues and differing philosophical interpretations and throughout its long historical development, it has shown subtle conceptual refinement. The interpretive program for the theory has also shown deep evolutionary change over time. Lawrence Sklar dis…
Philosophy and the foundations of dynamics
Although now replaced by more modern theories, classical mechanics remains a core foundational element of physical theory. From its inception, the theory of dynamics has been riddled with conceptual issues and differing philosophical interpretations and throughout its long historical development, it has shown subtle conceptual refinement. The interpretive program for the theory has also shown deep evolutionary change over time. Lawrence Sklar dis…
I'd Love to Be a Naturalist—if Only I Knew What Naturalism Was
Naturalists tell us to rely on what science tells about the world and to eschew aprioristic philosophy. But foundational physics relies internally on modes of thinking that can only be called philosophical, and philosophical arguments rely upon what can only be called scientific inference. So what, then, could the naturalistic thesis really amount to
Spacetime and Conventionalism
Salmon, following Reichenbach and others, maintained that distant simultaneity was conventional in a special relativistic world in a way in which this was not so in prerelativistic spacetime. This paper surveys and criticizes a number of proposals to unpack this claim. It goes on to argue that if the claim has validity, it rests upon differing facts about epistemic accessibility of temporal relations in the different spacetimes, and not directly …
Gerard Emch and Chuang Liu, The Logic of Thermo-Statistical Physics.
Dappled Theories in a Uniform World
It has been argued, most trenchantly by Nancy Cartwright, that the diversity of the concepts and regularities we actually use to describe nature and predict and explain its behavior leaves us with no reason to believe that our foundational physical theories actually “apply” outside of delicately contrived systems within the laboratory. This paper argues that, diversity of method notwithstanding, there is indeed good reason to think that the found…
Theory and Truth
Naturalism and the Interpretation of Theories
Explaining Chaos
Explaining Chaos
Quantum Mechanics and Experience
Physics and Chance
Philosophy of Physics
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Philosophy of Physics. By Lawrence Sklar. (Oxford UP, 1992. Pp. xi + 246. Price not given.) Steven French Steven French University of Leeds Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 44, Issue 177, October 1994, Pages 538–540, https://doi.org/10.2307/2220255 Published: 01 October 1994
Physics and Chance
Statistical mechanics is one of the crucial fundamental theories of physics, and in his new book Lawrence Sklar, one of the pre-eminent philosophers of physics, offers a comprehensive, non-technical introduction to that theory and to attempts to understand its foundational elements. Among the topics treated in detail are: probability and statistical explanation, the basic issues in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, the r…
Time, Space, and Philosophy . Christopher Ray
A Realist Philosophy of Science
Philosophical Problems of Statistical Inference
Probability as a theoretical concept
The Existence of Space and Time
What might be right about the causal theory of time
Inertia, Gravitation and Metaphysics
Several variant “Newtonian” theories of inertia and gravitation are described, and their scientific usefulness discussed. An examination of these theories is used to throw light on traditional epistemological and metaphysical questions about space and time. Finally these results are examined in the light of the changes induced by the transition from “Newtonian” to general relativistic spacetime
Methodological Conservatism
Space, Time, and Spacetime
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Space, Time, and Spacetime. By Lawrence Sklar. (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. 1974. Pp. xii + 423. Price $15) J. D. North J. D. North Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 25, Issue 101, October 1975, Pages 374–376, https://doi.org/10.2307/2218991 Published: 01 October 1975
The Evolution of the Problem of the Unity of Science
Types of Inter-Theoretic Reduction
Methodological Conservatism
Statistical Explanation and Ergodic Theory
Some philosphers of science of an empiricist and pragmatist bent have proposed models of statistical explanation, but have then become sceptical of the adequacy of these models. It is argued that general considerations concerning the purpose of function of explanation in science which are usually appealed to by such philosophers show that their scepticism is not well taken; for such considerations provide much the same rationale for the search fo…
Dappled Theories in a Uniform World
It has been argued, most trenchantly by Nancy Cartwright, that the diversity of the concepts and regularities we actually use to describe nature and predict and explain its behavior leaves us with no reason to believe that our foundational physical theories actually “apply” outside of delicately contrived systems within the laboratory. This paper argues that, diversity of method notwithstanding, there is indeed good reason to think that the found…
Inertia, Gravitation and Metaphysics
Several variant “Newtonian” theories of inertia and gravitation are described, and their scientific usefulness discussed. An examination of these theories is used to throw light on traditional epistemological and metaphysical questions about space and time. Finally these results are examined in the light of the changes induced by the transition from “Newtonian” to general relativistic spacetime
Quantum Mechanics and Experience
What might be right about the causal theory of time
Types of Inter-Theoretic Reduction
Geometry and Chronometry in Philosophical Perspective
Statistical Explanation and Ergodic Theory
Some philosphers of science of an empiricist and pragmatist bent have proposed models of statistical explanation, but have then become sceptical of the adequacy of these models. It is argued that general considerations concerning the purpose of function of explanation in science which are usually appealed to by such philosophers show that their scepticism is not well taken; for such considerations provide much the same rationale for the search fo…
The Evolution of the Problem of the Unity of Science
Methodological Conservatism
Space, Time, and Spacetime
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Space, Time, and Spacetime. By Lawrence Sklar. (Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. 1974. Pp. xii + 423. Price $15) J. D. North J. D. North Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 25, Issue 101, October 1975, Pages 374–376, https://doi.org/10.2307/2218991 Published: 01 October 1975
Inertia, Gravitation and Metaphysics
Several variant “Newtonian” theories of inertia and gravitation are described, and their scientific usefulness discussed. An examination of these theories is used to throw light on traditional epistemological and metaphysical questions about space and time. Finally these results are examined in the light of the changes induced by the transition from “Newtonian” to general relativistic spacetime
What might be right about the causal theory of time
The Existence of Space and Time
Probability as a theoretical concept
Philosophical Problems of Statistical Inference
A Realist Philosophy of Science
Physics and Chance
Statistical mechanics is one of the crucial fundamental theories of physics, and in his new book Lawrence Sklar, one of the pre-eminent philosophers of physics, offers a comprehensive, non-technical introduction to that theory and to attempts to understand its foundational elements. Among the topics treated in detail are: probability and statistical explanation, the basic issues in both equilibrium and non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, the r…
Time, Space, and Philosophy . Christopher Ray
Philosophy of Physics
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Philosophy of Physics. By Lawrence Sklar. (Oxford UP, 1992. Pp. xi + 246. Price not given.) Steven French Steven French University of Leeds Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 44, Issue 177, October 1994, Pages 538–540, https://doi.org/10.2307/2220255 Published: 01 October 1994
Physics and Chance
Quantum Mechanics and Experience
Naturalism and the Interpretation of Theories
Explaining Chaos
Explaining Chaos
Theory and Truth
Gerard Emch and Chuang Liu, The Logic of Thermo-Statistical Physics.
Dappled Theories in a Uniform World
It has been argued, most trenchantly by Nancy Cartwright, that the diversity of the concepts and regularities we actually use to describe nature and predict and explain its behavior leaves us with no reason to believe that our foundational physical theories actually “apply” outside of delicately contrived systems within the laboratory. This paper argues that, diversity of method notwithstanding, there is indeed good reason to think that the found…
Spacetime and Conventionalism
Salmon, following Reichenbach and others, maintained that distant simultaneity was conventional in a special relativistic world in a way in which this was not so in prerelativistic spacetime. This paper surveys and criticizes a number of proposals to unpack this claim. It goes on to argue that if the claim has validity, it rests upon differing facts about epistemic accessibility of temporal relations in the different spacetimes, and not directly …
I'd Love to Be a Naturalist—if Only I Knew What Naturalism Was
Naturalists tell us to rely on what science tells about the world and to eschew aprioristic philosophy. But foundational physics relies internally on modes of thinking that can only be called philosophical, and philosophical arguments rely upon what can only be called scientific inference. So what, then, could the naturalistic thesis really amount to
Philosophy (25 works) · Epistemology (21 works) · Physics (8 works) · Computer Science (7 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (7 works) · Philosophy of science (6 works) · Contemporary philosophy (5 works) · Philosophy (5 works) · Theoretical physics (5 works) · General interest (4 works)