No / This paper examines how such fundamental notions as causality and determinism have undergone changes as a direct result of empirical discoveries. Although such notions are often regarded as metaphysical or a priori concepts, experimental discoveries at the beginning of this century¿radioactive decay, blackbody radiation and spontaneous emission-led to a direct questioning of the notions of causality and determinism. Experimental evidence suggests that these two notions must be separated. Causality and indeterminism are compatible with the behavior of quantum-mechanical systems. The argument also sheds some light on the Duhem-Quine thesis, since experimental results at the periphery of the conceptual scheme directly affect conceptions at the very core.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/2852 |
| Date | 12 January 2005 |
| Creators | Weinert, Friedel |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Book, No full-text available in the repository |
| Relation | http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783540205807 |
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