Michael Dickson
Biographic Data
| ID | 3840758 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Dickson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Dickson |
| SIGNATURE | DICKSON M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Indiana University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 16 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 14 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 16 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1993 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
A Critical Review of the United States Government’s Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge
Perhaps the most significant milestone in the United States Government’s advancement of indigenous knowledge in the 21st century was the recently released White House First-of-a-Kind Indigenous Knowledge Guidance for Federal Agencies. The Government Wide Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge was released on November 30, 2022, with the primary objective of equipping federal agencies and departments with clear direct…
Musical Notation
The main goal of this essay is to propose and make plausible a framework for developing a philosophical account of musical notation. The proposed framework countenances four elements of notation: symbols (abstract objects that collectively constitute the backbone of a ‘system’ of notation), their characteristic ‘forms’ (for example, shapes, understood abstractly), the concrete instances, or ‘engravings’, of those forms, and the meanings of the sy…
Wide Combs
Taphonomic analysis of Bronze Age burials in Mongolian khirigsuurs
Is Measurement a Black Box? On the Importance of Understanding Measurement Even in Quantum Information and Computation
It has been argued, partly from the lack of any widely accepted solution to the measurement problem, and partly from recent results from quantum information theory, that measurement in quantum theory is best treated as a black box. However, there is a crucial difference between ‘having no account of measurement’ and ‘having no solution to the measurement problem’. We know a lot about measurements. Taking into account this knowledge sheds light on…
A view from nowhere
Quantum Reference Frames in the Context of EPR
Taking a cue from Bohr's use of the notion of a reference frame in his reply to EPR's argument against the completeness (and consistency) of standard quantum theory, this paper presents an analysis ofthe role of reference frames in the situation considered by EPR, using a quantum-theoretical account of physical reference frames based on the work of Mackey, and Aharonov and Kaufherr. That analysis appears to justify at least some crucial aspects o…
James T. Cushing, 1937–2002
Quantum Logic Is Alive ∧ (It Is True v It Is False)
Is the quantum-logic interpretation dead? Its near total absence from current discussions about the interpretation of quantum theory suggests so. While mathematical work on quantum logic continues largely unabated, interest in the quantum-logic interpretation seems to be almost nil, at least in Anglo-American philosophy of physics. This paper has the immodest purpose of changing that fact. I shall argue that while the quantum-logic interpretation…
The Light at the End of the Tunneling
If observation is ‘theory-laden’, how can there be ‘observationally equivalent theories’? How can the observations ‘laden’ by one theory be ‘the same as’ those ‘laden’ by another? The answer might lie in the expressibility of observationally equivalent theories in a common mathematical formalism
Michel Bitbol, Schrödinger's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics , Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996
Logical Foundations for Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
This paper proposes a logic, motivated by modal interpretations, in which every quantum mechanics propositions has a truth-value. This logic is completely classical, hence violates the conditions of the Kochen-Specker theorem. It is shown how the violation occurs, and it is argued that this violation is a natural and acceptable consequence of modal interpretations. It is shown that despite its classicality, the proposed logic is empirically indis…
Decoherence in unorthodox formulations of quantum mechanics
An Empirical Reply to Empiricism
Quantum mechanics has sometimes been taken to be an empiricist (vs. realist) theory. I state the empiricist's argument, then outline a recently noticed type of measurement—protective measurement—that affords a good reply for the realist. This paper is a reply to scientific empiricism (about quantum mechanics), but is neither a refutation of that position, nor an argument in favor of scientific realism. Rather, my aim is to place realism and empir…
Reply to H. Stapp's comment
Stapp's theorem without counterfactual commitments
Taphonomic analysis of Bronze Age burials in Mongolian khirigsuurs
An Empirical Reply to Empiricism
Quantum mechanics has sometimes been taken to be an empiricist (vs. realist) theory. I state the empiricist's argument, then outline a recently noticed type of measurement—protective measurement—that affords a good reply for the realist. This paper is a reply to scientific empiricism (about quantum mechanics), but is neither a refutation of that position, nor an argument in favor of scientific realism. Rather, my aim is to place realism and empir…
Stapp's theorem without counterfactual commitments
Stapp's theorem without counterfactual commitments
Reply to H. Stapp's comment
Decoherence in unorthodox formulations of quantum mechanics
An Empirical Reply to Empiricism
Quantum mechanics has sometimes been taken to be an empiricist (vs. realist) theory. I state the empiricist's argument, then outline a recently noticed type of measurement—protective measurement—that affords a good reply for the realist. This paper is a reply to scientific empiricism (about quantum mechanics), but is neither a refutation of that position, nor an argument in favor of scientific realism. Rather, my aim is to place realism and empir…
Logical Foundations for Modal Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics
This paper proposes a logic, motivated by modal interpretations, in which every quantum mechanics propositions has a truth-value. This logic is completely classical, hence violates the conditions of the Kochen-Specker theorem. It is shown how the violation occurs, and it is argued that this violation is a natural and acceptable consequence of modal interpretations. It is shown that despite its classicality, the proposed logic is empirically indis…
Michel Bitbol, Schrödinger's Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics , Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996
The Light at the End of the Tunneling
If observation is ‘theory-laden’, how can there be ‘observationally equivalent theories’? How can the observations ‘laden’ by one theory be ‘the same as’ those ‘laden’ by another? The answer might lie in the expressibility of observationally equivalent theories in a common mathematical formalism
Quantum Logic Is Alive ∧ (It Is True v It Is False)
Is the quantum-logic interpretation dead? Its near total absence from current discussions about the interpretation of quantum theory suggests so. While mathematical work on quantum logic continues largely unabated, interest in the quantum-logic interpretation seems to be almost nil, at least in Anglo-American philosophy of physics. This paper has the immodest purpose of changing that fact. I shall argue that while the quantum-logic interpretation…
James T. Cushing, 1937–2002
A view from nowhere
Quantum Reference Frames in the Context of EPR
Taking a cue from Bohr's use of the notion of a reference frame in his reply to EPR's argument against the completeness (and consistency) of standard quantum theory, this paper presents an analysis ofthe role of reference frames in the situation considered by EPR, using a quantum-theoretical account of physical reference frames based on the work of Mackey, and Aharonov and Kaufherr. That analysis appears to justify at least some crucial aspects o…
Is Measurement a Black Box? On the Importance of Understanding Measurement Even in Quantum Information and Computation
It has been argued, partly from the lack of any widely accepted solution to the measurement problem, and partly from recent results from quantum information theory, that measurement in quantum theory is best treated as a black box. However, there is a crucial difference between ‘having no account of measurement’ and ‘having no solution to the measurement problem’. We know a lot about measurements. Taking into account this knowledge sheds light on…
Taphonomic analysis of Bronze Age burials in Mongolian khirigsuurs
Wide Combs
Musical Notation
The main goal of this essay is to propose and make plausible a framework for developing a philosophical account of musical notation. The proposed framework countenances four elements of notation: symbols (abstract objects that collectively constitute the backbone of a ‘system’ of notation), their characteristic ‘forms’ (for example, shapes, understood abstractly), the concrete instances, or ‘engravings’, of those forms, and the meanings of the sy…
A Critical Review of the United States Government’s Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge
Perhaps the most significant milestone in the United States Government’s advancement of indigenous knowledge in the 21st century was the recently released White House First-of-a-Kind Indigenous Knowledge Guidance for Federal Agencies. The Government Wide Guidance for Federal Departments and Agencies on Indigenous Knowledge was released on November 30, 2022, with the primary objective of equipping federal agencies and departments with clear direct…
Philosophy (9 works) · Physics (9 works) · Quantum Mechanics and Applications (9 works) · Epistemology (8 works) · Quantum (7 works) · Quantum mechanics (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Philosophy and History of Science (6 works) · Theoretical physics (6 works) · Mathematics (5 works)