Branching and Uncertainty
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8396703 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Simon Saunders (0000-0002-8292-3014, University of Oxford), David Wallace (0000-0003-2385-5979, University of Oxford) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 59 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 293-305 |
| Publication date | 2008-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0007-0882 • E-ISSN: 1464-3537 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/bjps/axn029 |
| OpenAlex | W2106084809 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 24 |
| References cited | 9 |
Following Lewis, it is widely held that branching worlds differ in important ways from diverging worlds. There is, however, a simple and natural semantics under which ordinary sentences uttered in branching worlds have much the same truth values as they conventionally have in diverging worlds. Under this semantics, whether branching or diverging, speakers cannot say in advance which branch or world is theirs. They are uncertain as to the outcome. This same semantics ensures the truth of utterances typically made about quantum mechanical contingencies, including statements of uncertainty, if the Everett interpretation of quantum mechanics is true. The ‘incoherence problem’ of the Everett interpretation, that it can give no meaning to the notion of uncertainty, is thereby solved. 1. Introduction2. Metaphysics2.1. Personal fission2.2. Branching worlds3. Physics4. Objections
Branching (polymer chemistry) · Epistemology · Interpretation (philosophy) · Linguistics · Meaning (existential) · Possible world · Semantics (computer science) · Truth value · Computer Science · Mathematics · Origins and Evolution of Life · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Relativism and Two Kinds of Branching Time
Everettian Mechanics with Hyperfinitely Many Worlds
Reformulating Bell's theorem
Objective probability and the mind-body relation
The problem of confirmation in the Everett interpretation
The relative facts interpretation and Everett's note added in proof
Fission May Kill You (But Not for the Reasons You Thought)
Branching of possible worlds
Everettian theory as pure wave mechanics plus a no-collapse probability postulate
One world is (probably) just as good as many
Everettian quantum mechanics without branching time
Free will in the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics
Everettian quantum mechanics and the ghost of fission
Self-locating Uncertainty and the Origin of Probability in Everettian Quantum Mechanics
Saunders and Wallace on Everett and Lewis
Belief Update across Fission
Branching with Uncertain Semantics
Many Worlds and Schrödinger’s First Quantum Theory
Conquering Mount Everett
Evidence and Uncertainty in Everett’s Multiverse
Objective Probability in Everettian Quantum Mechanics
Everettian Quantum Mechanics and the Metaphysics of Modality
Centering the Everett Interpretation
The Open Future
Everett and structure
Uncertainty and probability for branching selves
Quantum probability from subjective likelihood
Measurement outcomes and probability in Everettian quantum mechanics
On the Everettian Epistemic Problem
Understanding Deutsch's probability in a deterministic multiverse
Time, quantum mechanics, and decoherence
Time, Quantum Mechanics, and Probability
A Philosopher Looks at Quantum Mechanics (Again)
| Unique citing works | 24 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,33 |
| Citation span | 2008 - 2025 (18) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 24 |