Tomasz Bigaj
Biographic Data
| ID | 1065835 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tomasz Bigaj |
| GIVEN NAMES | Tomasz |
| FAMILY NAME | Bigaj |
| SIGNATURE | BIGAJ T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Warsaw |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8121-9789 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 14 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
In Defense of Anti-Haecceitism
Boris Kment formulates two challenges to anti-haecceitism: one based on the concept of chance, and the other involving counterfactuals. In this paper I refute the chance-based argument by appropriately reformulating its premises in a non-individualistic language. Regarding the argument from counterfactuals I consider three strategies of defense. The strategy that is ultimately accepted as most promising is a revamped approach based on the distinc…
Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics
How to Justify the Symmetrization Postulate in Quantum Mechanics
The aim of this paper is to reconstruct and correct one argument (known in the literature as the exchange degeneracy argument) in support of the symmetrization postulate in quantum mechanics. I identify the central premise of the argument as a thesis specifying a particular ontic (or epistemic) property of quantum superpositions. The precise form of this thesis depends on some underlying assumptions of a metaphysical character (concerning identif…
On discernibility in symmetric languages
In this paper I consider the question of whether absolute discernibility is attainable in symmetric languages. Simon Saunders has proven that all facts expressible in first-order language with identity can be equivalently stated within its symmetric sublanguage. I use this result to show specifically how particles of the same type can be absolutely discerned in the permutation-invariant language of the quantum theory of many particles
Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics
On quantum entanglement, counterfactuals, causality and dispositions
The existence of non-local correlations between outcomes of measurements in quantum entangled systems strongly suggests that we are dealing with some form of causation here. An assessment of this conjecture in the context of the collapse interpretation of quantum mechanics is the primary goal of this paper. Following the counterfactual approach to causation, I argue that the details of the underlying causal mechanism which could explain the non-l…
Are field quanta real objects? Some remarks on the ontology of quantum field theory
Dissecting weak discernibility of quanta
Entanglement and non-factorizability
How to evaluate counterfactuals in the quantum world
In the article I discuss possible amendments and corrections to Lewis’s semantics for counterfactuals that are necessary in order to account for the indeterministic and non-local character of the quantum world. I argue that Lewis’s criteria of similarity between possible worlds produce incorrect valuations for alternate-outcome counterfactuals in the EPR case. Later I discuss an alternative semantics which rejects the notion of miraculous events …
Counterfactual semantics and quantum physics
This paper addresses the issue of the applicability of David Lewis's possible world semantics of counterfactual conditionals to the explication of some quantum-mechanical phenomena. Three main reasons why counterfactual semantics may be useful for this task are given. It is further argued that two possible semantic approaches to counterfactuals should be taken into account involving spatiotemporal events that satisfy requirements of special relat…
How to (properly) strengthen Bell's theorem using counterfactuals
The Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles and Quantum Mechanics
It is argued that recent discussion of the principle of the identity of indiscernibles (PII) and quantum mechanics has lost sight of the broader philosophical motivation and significance of PII and that the ‘received view' of the status of PII in the light of quantum mechanics survives recent criticisms of it by Muller, Saunders, and Seevinck
Counterfactuals and Spatiotemporal Events
The Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles and Quantum Mechanics
It is argued that recent discussion of the principle of the identity of indiscernibles (PII) and quantum mechanics has lost sight of the broader philosophical motivation and significance of PII and that the ‘received view' of the status of PII in the light of quantum mechanics survives recent criticisms of it by Muller, Saunders, and Seevinck
Counterfactuals and Spatiotemporal Events
How to evaluate counterfactuals in the quantum world
In the article I discuss possible amendments and corrections to Lewis’s semantics for counterfactuals that are necessary in order to account for the indeterministic and non-local character of the quantum world. I argue that Lewis’s criteria of similarity between possible worlds produce incorrect valuations for alternate-outcome counterfactuals in the EPR case. Later I discuss an alternative semantics which rejects the notion of miraculous events …
Counterfactuals and Spatiotemporal Events
How to (properly) strengthen Bell's theorem using counterfactuals
The Principle of the Identity of Indiscernibles and Quantum Mechanics
It is argued that recent discussion of the principle of the identity of indiscernibles (PII) and quantum mechanics has lost sight of the broader philosophical motivation and significance of PII and that the ‘received view' of the status of PII in the light of quantum mechanics survives recent criticisms of it by Muller, Saunders, and Seevinck
Counterfactual semantics and quantum physics
This paper addresses the issue of the applicability of David Lewis's possible world semantics of counterfactual conditionals to the explication of some quantum-mechanical phenomena. Three main reasons why counterfactual semantics may be useful for this task are given. It is further argued that two possible semantic approaches to counterfactuals should be taken into account involving spatiotemporal events that satisfy requirements of special relat…
Entanglement and non-factorizability
How to evaluate counterfactuals in the quantum world
In the article I discuss possible amendments and corrections to Lewis’s semantics for counterfactuals that are necessary in order to account for the indeterministic and non-local character of the quantum world. I argue that Lewis’s criteria of similarity between possible worlds produce incorrect valuations for alternate-outcome counterfactuals in the EPR case. Later I discuss an alternative semantics which rejects the notion of miraculous events …
Dissecting weak discernibility of quanta
Are field quanta real objects? Some remarks on the ontology of quantum field theory
On quantum entanglement, counterfactuals, causality and dispositions
The existence of non-local correlations between outcomes of measurements in quantum entangled systems strongly suggests that we are dealing with some form of causation here. An assessment of this conjecture in the context of the collapse interpretation of quantum mechanics is the primary goal of this paper. Following the counterfactual approach to causation, I argue that the details of the underlying causal mechanism which could explain the non-l…
On discernibility in symmetric languages
In this paper I consider the question of whether absolute discernibility is attainable in symmetric languages. Simon Saunders has proven that all facts expressible in first-order language with identity can be equivalently stated within its symmetric sublanguage. I use this result to show specifically how particles of the same type can be absolutely discerned in the permutation-invariant language of the quantum theory of many particles
Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics
Identity and Indiscernibility in Quantum Mechanics
How to Justify the Symmetrization Postulate in Quantum Mechanics
The aim of this paper is to reconstruct and correct one argument (known in the literature as the exchange degeneracy argument) in support of the symmetrization postulate in quantum mechanics. I identify the central premise of the argument as a thesis specifying a particular ontic (or epistemic) property of quantum superpositions. The precise form of this thesis depends on some underlying assumptions of a metaphysical character (concerning identif…
In Defense of Anti-Haecceitism
Boris Kment formulates two challenges to anti-haecceitism: one based on the concept of chance, and the other involving counterfactuals. In this paper I refute the chance-based argument by appropriately reformulating its premises in a non-individualistic language. Regarding the argument from counterfactuals I consider three strategies of defense. The strategy that is ultimately accepted as most promising is a revamped approach based on the distinc…
Epistemology (12 works) · Philosophy (12 works) · Quantum Mechanics and Applications (12 works) · Mathematics (9 works) · Physics (9 works) · Quantum mechanics (8 works) · Theoretical physics (8 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Counterfactual conditional (6 works) · Counterfactual thinking (6 works)