The demons of science what they can and cannot tell us about our world

Friedel Weinert The Demons of Science What They Can and Cannot Tell Us About Our World The Demons of Science Friedel Weinert The Demons of Science What They Can and Cannot Tell Us About Our World 123 Friedel Weinert Faculty of Social Sciences University of Bradford Bradford UK ISBN 978-3-319-31707-6 DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31708-3 ISBN 978-3-319-31708-3 (eBook) Library of Congress Control Number: 2016936279 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland Preface The title The Demons of Science may at first appear like a contradiction in terms Demons are associated with the forces of darkness; science represents the power of light One could assume, therefore, that science has no time for demons This book aims to destroy this assumption Science opens its gates to demons as long as they play a rational rather than an evil part They are put to work Demons are figures of thought: they belong to the category of thought experiments, which are routinely employed in science and philosophy As they are cast as agents with superhuman abilities, we may expect that demons provide us with valuable—albeit non-empirical—clues about the constitution of the physical world But I am interested in exploring not only what the demons tell us but also what they not tell us about our world They are cast as superhuman actors but even demons have their limitations The following chapters contain, I believe, the first systematic study of the role of demons in scientific and philosophical reasoning about the external world I have to thank a number of people for helping me along the way: Roger Fellows (Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bradford), Roman Frigg (Professor of Philosophy at the London School of Economics) and Robert Nola (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auckland) who either read all or part of the manuscript and have given me valuable advice An invitation to give a talk on the cosmological arrow of time at the Sigma Club of the Department of Philosophy at the London School of Economics (January 2016) has helped me clarify some uncertainties about the powers of Loschmidt’s Demon I thank the members of the audience for a stimulating discussion I was granted sabbatical leave in the summer of 2015 and I would like to thank the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Bradford for granting me the time to finalise the manuscript I spent the months of the sabbatical at the Center for Mathematical Philosophy at the University of Munich I would like to thank its Director, Stephan Hartmann, for the invitation, the v vi Preface stimulating atmosphere and the warm welcome I take this opportunity to thank Angela Lahee, not only for her enthusiasm for the Demons of Science, but also for her unfailing support over the years I can confirm that no demons had a hand in writing this book But I hope that the reader will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it Friedel Weinert Contents Introduction Part I Thought Experiments Thought Experiments in Ancient Greece 2.1 Some Preliminary Lessons What 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Models and Thought Experiments 4.1 Models as Mediators 4.2 A Typology of Models 4.3 How Models Represent 13 17 17 20 23 28 29 33 33 37 41 The Function of Thought Experiments 47 What Thought Experiments Tell Us and Don’t Tell Us About the World 51 Thought Experiments Represent The Experimentalist View The Platonic View The Argument View A Model-Based Account G.C Lichtenberg’s Aphorisms 55 56 57 59 Laplace’s Demon: Causal and Predictive Determinism 65 Causality, Determinism and the Block Universe 73 Enter 7.1 7.2 7.3 Part II the Demons Freud’s Demon Descartes’s Demon Mendel’s Demon and Evolution Laplace’s Demon vii viii Contents 10 The Time-Reversal Invariance of Fundamental Laws 77 11 Determinism and Its Implications 11.1 Determinism and the Arrow of Time 11.2 Determinism and Fatalism 11.2.1 The Special Theory of Relativity (1905) 11.2.2 The Special Theory and Determinism 11.2.3 Fatalism and the Special Theory 11.3 The Limits of Determinism 11.4 Determinism and Chance 81 81 83 84 89 92 94 98 12 Determinism and Free Will 101 12.1 Responses to the Problem of Free Will 102 12.2 Emergence 107 13 What Laplace’s Demon Tells Us and Does not Tell Us About the World 113 Part III Maxwell’s Demon 14 Local and Cosmic Arrows of Time 117 15 Maxwell’s Demon 123 16 Loschmidt’s Demon: Reversibility and Irreversibility 127 17 Indeterminism 17.1 Indeterminism and Free Will 17.1.1 Quantum Coherence 17.1.2 Neural Darwinism and Emergence 131 134 135 137 18 Entropy and Evolution 18.1 Entropy and Causality 18.1.1 Causation 18.1.2 Causality and Entropy 143 145 146 149 19 The Past-Future Asymmetry 153 19.1 Some Attempts to Explain the Past-Future Asymmetry 154 19.2 Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics 159 20 What Maxwell’s Demon Tells Us and Does not Tell Us About the World 167 Part IV Nietzsche’s Demon 21 The Eternal Recurrence of Events 173 22 Landsberg’s Demon 177 22.1 The Multiverse 179 22.2 Space-Time Models and the Universe 186 Contents ix 23 Physical and Phenomenal Time 23.1 Temporal Realism and Anti-realism 23.2 Memory and Entropy 23.3 The Impression of Flow and a Universal Now 191 193 195 199 24 The Evolution of the Universe 205 25 Time and Change 209 26 Is There a Master Arrow of Time? 213 27 What Landsberg’s Demon Tells Us and Does not Tell Us About the Arrows of Time 223 Part V Conclusion 28 Conclusion 229 Bibliography 231 Index 241 Chapter Introduction (…) physicists have become demons Lewis (1930: 40) This is a book about demons, not the scary demons of fiction but the reasonable demons of science Demons are figures of thought who are used as argument patterns in philosophical and scientific reasoning In his wonderful book From Here to Eternity the cosmologist, Sean Carroll, exclaims at one point: ‘What is it with all the demons, anyway?’ (Carroll 2010: 400, Footnote 167) The occasion for this outburst is his discussion of Nietzsche’s thesis of an eternal recurrence of all events Nietzsche employs a demon to convey his message of the ‘wheel of the cosmic process.’ As Carroll rightly implies, demons are frequently employed as thought experiments in the history of philosophical and scientific reasoning about the world The present book aims to answer Sean Carroll’s rhetorical question Scientists— and philosophers alike—seem to be fond of demons: references to metaphorical demons abound in their thought experiments Descartes, Laplace, Maxwell, Loschmidt, Landsberg, Nietzsche and Freud conjured up their own demons Even the genetic work of the humble Augustinian friar Gregor Mendel has been associated with a demon So what about demons? Demons are supernatural beings In the scientist’s reasoning repertoire they fulfil an important function Their job is to explore the coherence, limits and the potential of human knowledge about the natural world They may also propose bold new hypotheses and challenge existing knowledge claims But scientific knowledge also has philosophical consequences Often wide-ranging philosophical claims are made in the name of the demons of science The French astronomer Pierre Laplace used his eponymous Demon to claim that the world is completely deterministic, like a clockwork universe If the universe is a deterministic chain of events it seems to follow that the passage of time and our cherished free will are mere illusions Where does this leave our human impression of the flow of time and the exercise of free will? Maxwell’s Demon cast a shadow of doubt over the 19th century view that the universe was inexorably on a trajectory, from order to disorder, towards an unavoidable ‘heat death’, providing us with a cosmic arrow of time According to © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 F Weinert, The Demons of Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31708-3_1 236 Bibliography Laplace, P (1774) La probabilité des causes par les événements In Œuvres Complétes de Laplace (Vol VIII, pp 27–62) Paris: Gauthier-Villar et Fils (1841) Laplace, P (1820) Théorie analytique des probabilités Paris: Couvier Laskar, J (1989) A numerical experiment on the chaotic behavior of the solar system Nature, 338, 237–238 Leibniz, G W (1715/1971) The monadology and other philosophical writings (R Latta, Trans.) Oxford: Oxford University Press Leibniz, G W (1715) The metaphysical foundations of mathematics In P P Wiener (Ed.), Leibniz—Selections (pp 201–216) New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons Leff, H S., & Rex, A (Eds.) 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39–42, 47, 55, 71, 189 Action-at-a-distance, 73 Agency free, 81, 92, 100, 102 human, 94, 102, 103, 107, 113, 140 Albert, D., 156 Alvarez hypothesis, 155 Ampère, A.M (1775–1836), 56 Andromeda, 83, 91, 204, 207 Anisotropy, 7, 82, 117–119, 122, 144, 164, 165, 187, 207, 210, 213, 217, 220, 227 Anomaly, 47–48 Anti-realism, 194 temporal, 194–195 Aphorisms, 31–32, 53 Archetype, 173174 Archytas of Tarentum (ỗa 430345 BC), 910, 13–14, 22, 29, 49 Aristarchus of Samos (310–230 BC), 16 Aristotle (384–322 BC), 9–13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 24, 27, 29, 34, 47, 49, 102, 117, 146, 209 sea battle, 83–84 theory of motion, 11–13, 15–16, 18, 20, 23–24, 49, 51 tower argument, 12, 15, 18–19, 23, 27, 49, 53 See also Thought experiment Armstrong, N (1930–2012), 21 Arrow of time, 1, 3, 4, 59, 61, 64, 67, 74–75, 77–78, 81–83, 91–92, 100, 113, 122, 134, 141, 159, 164, 168–169, 174, 176–178, 182–187, 196–198, 205–207, 211–213, 225 See also Master Arrow of time biological, 120, 144, 220 causal, 65, 120, 132, 145, 151, 211, 217 cosmic, 1, 2, 4, 5, 61, 82, 118, 120, 121, 130, 144, 159, 168, 169, 175, 176, 179, 180, 182–184, 191, 205, 208, 218, 219, 224 entropic, 4, 144–145, 151–152, 175 flipping, 175 geological, 120 global, 118, 120–121, 168, 170, 188, 189, 200 historical, 120, 144 irreversible, 211 local, 4, 14, 61, 122, 186, 200 parallelism of, 213–214, 216 physical, 5, 119 psychological, 14, 118–119, 129, 192, 213, 216, 220–221 radiative, 119, 213, 217 thermodynamic, 82, 119, 121, 151, 161, 175, 217–219 uni-directional, 164, 213–214, 216 Astronomy, 36, 40, 58–59, 70–71 Asymmetry, 79, 83, 119, 130, 151, 168, 181–184, 191 See also Past-future asymmetry Avatar, 45 Axiom of a universal causal chain, 65 B Becoming, 75, 89, 93, 191 Behaviour, 39, 85, 104–105, 108, 138, 140 abnormal, 104 compulsive, 104 criminal, 106 neurotic, 135 rational, 104, 193 social, 104 Bernard, C (1813–1878), 67 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 F Weinert, The Demons of Science, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-31708-3 241 242 Big Bang, 5, 13, 61, 75, 82, 91, 118–120, 143, 157, 160, 165, 168, 175, 179, 180–182, 207–209 low-entropy, 119, 157, 164–165, 175, 182, 185, 205–207, 213, 217 Big Bang model, 180 Big Chill, 61, 75, 82, 91, 120, 175, 180, 182 Big Crunch, 13, 118–119, 156, 168, 175, 180–182, 205 Biology, 59, 104, 106, 135, 136 See also Mind evolutionary, 173 See also Natural selection Black hole, 13, 183 Block Universe, 73–75, 77, 91, 93, 154, 165, 186–187, 189, 190–191, 199, 223 evolving, 75, 82, 91, 100, 187, 191, 204, 217–218 static, 74–75, 81, 91, 100, 113, 121, 157, 168, 207 Bode, J (1747–1826), 40 Bode’s law, 40 Bohm, D (1917–1992), 70 Bohr, N (1885–1962), 146 Boltzmann, L (1844–1903), 4, 121–122, 140, 143, 162–164 statistical definition of entropy, 162 Boltzmann relation, S, 161 Born, M (1882–1970), 52 Boscovich, R.J (1711–1787), 67 Boscovich’s Demon, 73 Boyle, R (1627–1691), 67 Brahe, T (1546–1601), 35, 58 See also Models Brain, 4, 56, 102, 105, 107–111, 135–140, 167, 193, 195–199, 204, 220, 221 See also Mind damaged, 106, 108, 135 Brain structure, 106, 135, 136 Brain-mind distinction, 110, 114, 137 See also Mind-brain identity Branch attrition, 157–158 Branching of events, 89 Broglie de, L (1892–1987), 69, 131 thought experiment, 131 Bunge, M., 137 Buridan, J (ỗirca 130058), 23 C Carroll, S., Causal field, 103, 149–150, 217 Causality, 2–4, 44, 52, 62, 63, 73–75, 115, 120, 134, 137, 146, 150, 151 Index and entropy, 145, 149–152 conditional model of, 146, 154 deterministic, 4, 99, 102, 167 probabilistic, 4, 147–148, 167 simultaneous, 149 Causation, 40 adequate, 40 conditional view of, 148 INUS account, 148 mental, 5, 105, 138, 192 physical, 148 probabilistic, 4, 147–148, 167 universal law of, 66 Cause, 3, 40, 62, 66, 70–71, 74, 82–84, 98–99, 101–105, 110, 113, 120, 132, 138, 146, 148–149, 150–152, 154–155, 176, 188, 213, 216–221 See also Reason antecedent, 103, 145, 147 dynamical, 73 efficient, 146 final, 146 formal, 146 material, 146 physical, 37, 68 probable, 133, 163 simultaneous, 120 Chance, 3–4, 52, 60, 98–99, 101, 103 Chance events, 91, 96, 99 Chance flutuations, 70 Change, 11, 13, 43, 45, 82–84, 90, 108, 113, 117–118, 121, 125, 129, 139, 144–145, 154, 159, 165, 170, 197, 209–212, 218 dynamic, 5, 74, 83, 180, 201, 225 evolutionary, 173, 214–217 See also Natural selection Circadian rhythm, 220 Clock, 63, 70, 107, 160, 172, 187, 190, 193, 210–211, 219 biological, 220 internal, 192–193 mental, 192 See also Time Clock time, 118–119, 187, 192, 200, 202, 211, 218–221, 224 Clockwork universe, 1, 3, 62, 65, 67, 70, 106, 113, 175 Coherence, 1, 3, 26, 44, 51, 56, 164, 227 conceptual, 26, 44, 53 external, 48–49 Compatibilism, 102 Computability, 96, 98, 99, 114 Computation, 23, 136, 139 Index Condition, 43, 69, 85, 101, 120, 149, 209, 214 antecedent, 99, 149, 151 boundary, 18, 19, 71, 75, 91, 98, 156, 163–165, 207, 218 causal, 120, 147, 149 cluster of, 84, 104, 148, 152 consequent, 99, 149 contributing, 148 fibrillated, 130, 151, 156 final, 78, 119, 164, 207 initial, 78, 120, 130 low entropy, 185 nasic, 154 necessary, 107, 132, 139, 148, 189, 209 smooth, 13, 130 sufficient, 104, 106, 136, 148, 209, 210 Consciousness, 56–57, 93, 135–139, 167, 200, 220 biological theory of, 137 temporal, 191 Consistency, 8, 43 internal, 48, 49, 192 logical, 33, 43, 49, 53 Constraints, 41–47, 52, 161, 224 See also Representation empirical, 23, 43, 44 metaphysical, 44, 227 theoretical, 43–45 Constraint space, 43–45 See also Representation Contraction, 181 Copernican revolution, 24 Copernicus, N (1473–1543), 9, 15, 16, 34–36, 41, 58, 68, 117–118, 223 Correlations, 53, 66 Cosmology, 12, 82, 168, 203–204, 220, 224 Greek, 18, 49, 172, 180 Kantian, 187, 206 modern, 82, 165, 187 relativistic, 179 Standard Model, 180 Cosmos, 2, 10, 49, 67, 81, 118, 170, 175 cyclic, 227 deterministic, 227 dynamic, 175 finite, 10, 15 probabilistic, 227 static, 170, 175 Cultural selection, 110 See also Natural selection Curiosity, 9, 58 theoretical, See also Representation 243 D Darwin, Ch (1809–1882), 61, 109, 110, 120, 140, 143, 214, 216 finches, 214, 216 tree of life, 215 Darwinian research programme, 4, 103, 109, 137 Darwinism, 109, 120, 214 neural, 135, 137–138 Decoherence, 158–159, 162–164, 168 Demons, v, 1–3, 6, 16, 44, 53, 55–56, 68, 75, 162, 180, 200, 223, 225 agents provocateurs, 227 cosmic, 118, 178 figures of thought, v, Descartes, R (1596–1650), 1, 57, 59, 67, 105 methodical doubt, 30 Descartes’s Demon, 57–59 de Sitter space, 185–186, 204, 211 Determinism, 1, 2, 44, 52, 64, 65–77, 79, 81–92, 94–100, 101–112, 117, 131, 134, 145, 147, 167, 175 agential, 104 causal, 3, 65, 67–71, 73–75, 81, 113, 146 classical, 94, 105 dynamic, 66, 74–75, 82 genetic, 104 hard, 102, 113 Laplacean, 3, 69, 70, 73, 83, 84, 90, 95, 98, 101–103, 107, 130 metaphysical, 3, 68, 73, 74, 81, 95, 113 neural, 102, 109 non-Laplacean, 90, 114 partial, 94 predictive, 65, 68–70, 73–75, 94, 96, 100, 113, 146 soft, 102 static, 74 D’Holbach, P.H.Th (1723–1789), 67 Disorder, 1, 2, 4, 60–62, 119, 125, 141, 145, 150, 151, 159, 161, 196 Dollo, L (1857–1931), 144 Dollo’s law, 144 E Earth, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 40, 43, 58, 61, 66, 91, 96, 107, 143–144, 150, 170, 177, 182, 186, 188, 201–202, 204, 214, 217, 224 flat, 9, 11 motionless, 10, 12, 13, 34, 81 rotating, 13, 15, 49 244 Earth (cont.) spherical, 9, 11, 12, 19, 25 stationary, 15, 16, 43, 117–118, 209, 223 Eddington, A (1882–1944), 67, 68, 71, 102, 104, 105, 121, 122, 130, 134, 135, 150, 164, 174, 188, 192, 205, 206, 211, 212, 217, 223 Eddington’s Demon, 67, 94 Edelman, G (1929–2014), 135, 137–139 Einstein, A (1879–1955), 20–22, 25, 26, 52, 85, 86, 189 elevator thought experiment, 20, 25, 48–49, 53, 186 Ellis, G., 218 Elsewhere, 90, 188 Emergence, 61, 70, 74, 103, 106, 107–113, 115, 135, 136, 137–139, 158, 164, 167–168, 184, 197, 216–217 strong, 108–109 weak, 108–109 Empiricism, 21 Enlightenment, 29–30, 58, 120, 173 Entailment, 110, 135, 138–139 Entropy, 2, 4, 5, 61, 119, 121–122, 129–130, 140–141, 154, 158, 159–166, 167–168, 183–185, 190, 195–199, 213, 218, 227 and causality, 145–146, 149–152 and evolution, 143–145, 205–208 fluctuations, 60, 213 increase of, 2, 60, 61, 158, 210–211, 217, 219, 221 information-theoretic notion of, 125, 145 statistical-mechanical, 191 meanings of, 125, 150 Equations, 68, 69, 77, 78, 140, 146, 156, 158, 162, 164, 167, 185, 186, 189 Equilibrium, 82, 119, 121, 122, 143, 145, 160, 186 thermodynamic, 82, 122 Equivalence principle, 49 Eternalism, 191, 203 Eternal recurrence, 1, 45, 61, 168, 173–176, 177–178, 182–183, 227 Event, 70, 87–94, 101, 146, 148, 154, 155, 157, 188, 189, 193–194, 198, 207, 211 branching, 89, 99, 134, 157, 165 conscious, 136, 192 mental, 105–106, 133 null-like, 188, 200, 205 Index quantum, 105 space-like, 90–92, 188, 190, 205 time-like, 90–94, 168, 187–189, 194, 200, 205, 206, 212, 220 Evolution, 4, 61, 106, 120, 135, 140, 143–146, 216 biological, 135, 141, 143, 144, 216 cosmic, 2, 182, 208, 219 descent with modification, 214 dynamic, 75, 82, 129, 177 geological, 120 irreversibility of, 144 of life, 4, 60, 120, 218 of universe, 60, 62, 70, 74, 75, 95, 100, 113, 120, 130–131, 134, 144, 158, 175, 204, 205–208, 216, 220, 225 Experiment, 19, 29, 99, 106 See also Thought experiment imaginary, 8, 19, 55 real, 19, 21, 27, 28, 48, 51, 193 Explanatory power, 48, 49 F Factualization, 34, 35, 38, 41 See also Models Falsification, 51 Falsificationism, 51 Faraday, M (1791–1867), 20 Fatalism, 2, 3, 75, 83–84, 89, 92–94, 100, 101, 113 Feynman, R (1918–88), 124 Filmstrip, 8, 73, 74, 82, 100 See also Block universe First Law of Thermodynamics, 165 Fit, 42–46, 195 See also Representation Flow of time, 1, 2, 5, 61, 82, 89, 93, 118–119, 194, 197, 199, 200, 205, 220 FLRW space-times, 189–190, 191 Foliation, 191 Four-dimensional world, 89, 91, 93, 101, 113, 121 See also Space-time-four-dimensional Freedom, 102, 103, 109, 114, 134 Free will, 1–4, 61, 62, 64, 75, 81–83, 89, 91–93, 100, 101–107, 109, 111, 113, 114, 117, 134–137, 167, 227 Freud, S (1856–1938), 1, 3, 38, 56–57, 59, 105, 135 Freudian Demon, 105 See also Mind Friedman, A (1888–1925), 187 Future branching, 68, 81, 84, 89, 99, 113, 134, 157 Index G Galilei, G (1564–1642), 18, 20, 26, 67, 71–72, 85, 131 equivalence of inertial systems, 85 fall law, 21, 193 Galle, J (1812–1910), 71 Gedankenexperiment See thought experiment Gell-Mann, M., 156, 157, 158 General theory of relativity, 86, 87, 186 Genes, 60 Geocentrism, 36, 49, 110, 172, 224 Gestalt switch, 27 Gödel, K (1906–1978), 188 Gold, Th (1920–2004), 175 Gold universe, 78, 118, 156, 175, 176, 185, 206–207 Gravitation, 21, 23, 26, 45, 48, 49, 56, 73, 186 Gravity, 18, 24, 37, 45, 157, 168 Greenwich, 202 H Hameroff, St., 135 Hartle, J., 156 Hawking, St., 13, 102, 106 Heat death, 1, 61, 82, 120, 121, 128, 143, 157, 168, 175, 180, 182, 183, 207, 211 Heisenberg, W (1901–1976), 52, 71, 146 See also Understanding Heliocentrism, 15, 36, 41, 58, 59, 110, 117 Helmholtz, H (18211894), 146 Heraclides Ponticus (ỗa 390 BC ỗa 310 BC), 16 Here-Now, 87, 90, 93, 187189 Herschel, W (1738–1822), 72 Hiketas of Syracuse (4-5th century BC), 16 Histories, 4, 75, 81, 93, 134, 163 alternative, 90, 114, 158, 162 branch-dependence, 158 branching, 134 possible, 83, 158, 163 Hubble, E (1889–1953), 186 Hubble’s law, 186, 205 Hume, D (1711–1776), 102, 148, 149 Huxley, T.S (1825–1895), 110 Hypothesis Alvarez, 155 Copernican, 59 heliocentric, 58 mathematical, 59 I Idealization, 19, 21, 23, 27, 34, 35, 41, 42, 55, 96, 117, 199 Ideal types, 39–40 See also Models 245 IGUS, 197 information gathering and utilizing system, 197 Impetus theory of motion, 15, 16, 23, 24 Indeterminacy, 95–96, 104, 134 Indeterminism, 2, 4, 44, 52, 62, 67, 71, 89, 95–96, 98, 105, 113–115, 130, 131–137, 144, 145, 147, 167 Inertia, 16, 27, 29, 35, 49 Inference, 5, 25, 45, 48, 75, 133, 134, 154–156, 200, 203, 211, 218, 220, 221, 223 See also Representation Information, 25, 27, 45, 46, 69, 89, 92, 125, 145, 150, 155, 158, 159, 192, 194, 195–204, 216, 220 See also IGUS Information entropy, 125, 145, 151 Information loss, 4, 121, 125, 141, 145, 150, 160, 196 Instrumentalism, 58 Interrelatedness, 67 Interrelation, 3, 135 Invariance, 85, 118, 192–201, 223 t-invariance, 77–83, 113, 163 weak, 163 Irreversibility, 2, 79, 83, 127–130, 144, 159, 163–164, 167 de facto, 79, 163–164 de jure, 163 Isomorphism, 42, 45 See also Representation J James, J (1842–1910), 139 Jupiter, 34, 40, 42, 86, 202, 211 K Kant, I (1724–1804), 8, 102, 120, 143, 149–150, 224 causation, 146 cosmology, 187, 206 Enlightenment motto, 29 island universe, 187, 206–207 Kepler, J (1571–1630), 20, 36, 37, 40, 41, 43, 44, 58, 68, 146, 223 first law, 36, 43, 165 third law, 37, 42 Knowledge, 1, 3, 5, 6, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 29, 40, 44, 45, 48, 49, 51–53, 55, 57, 59, 65–71, 73–75, 79, 95, 104, 114, 123, 131, 138, 140, 145, 153, 156, 179, 201, 208, 210, 216–218, 223–225, 227–228 See also Understanding a priori, 20, 22, 23 certainty of, 22, 57, 59 Kuhn, T.S (1922–1996), 43, 47, 48 246 L Lamarck, J.B (1744–1829), 120 Lande’s Demon, 105 Landsberg, P.T., Landsberg’s Demon, 2, 5, 61, 169, 175, 177–179, 180, 182, 204–207, 223–225 Laplace, P (1749–1827), 1, 63–64, 99, 131, 146 nebular hypothesis, 206 Laplace's Demon\Laplacean Demon, 2–6, 44, 56, 61, 63–84, 91–95, 98–99, 100, 103–104, 113, 116, 117, 128, 131, 145, 147, 150, 175, 178, 180, 227 omniscience of, 99 Law of conditional independence, 155 Laws, 3, 13, 21, 22, 40, 45, 49, 55, 64–67, 70, 84, 85, 97, 99, 106–108, 121, 127, 129, 143, 146, 184, 206, 212 deterministic, 74, 79, 83, 90, 91, 95, 98, 113, 122, 127 empirical, 44 fundamental, 3, 22, 44, 52, 65, 75, 77, 82, 90, 113, 121, 128, 184 micro-physical, 134, 163 Newton’s, 68–69, 73, 97, 187 of motion, 75, 85, 89, 94, 96, 175 planetary, 41, 44, 78, 95, 146 psycho-physical, 139 statistical, 70, 90, 91, 121, 122 time-reversal invariant, 18, 75, 77–83, 91, 113, 129, 163, 165 universal, 71, 74, 109, 144, 202 Leibniz, G.W (1646–1716), 14, 20, 65–66, 68, 102, 106, 209, 210, 218–219, 223, 224 See also Time; Space; Principle of Sufficient Reason Lemtre, G (1894–1966), 187 Libertarianism, 102 Lichtenberg, G.C (1742–99), 6, 29–32, 38, 48 aphorisms, 30–32 counterfactual questions, 31 thought experimentation, 30 thought systems, 30 Light cones, 87, 90, 92, 93, 187–188, 205 Liouville’s theorem, 129, 162 Lockwood, M., 154 Logical connection argument, 103 Loschmidt, J.J (1821–1895), 1, 128, 130, 206 reversibility objection, 128 Loschmidt’s Demon, 164–165, 176, 205, 206 Lucas, J.R., 193–194, 198 Index M Mach, E (1838–1916), 8, 19, 20, 22, 47, 53, 57 Mackie, J (1917–81), 148 See also Causation Macro-condition, 155, 156 Macro-state, 133, 161, 162 See also Micro-state Micro-system, 99 Master arrow of time, 5, 61, 145, 164, 211, 212–221 Materialism, 137, 140 emergentist, 137 Maxwell, J.C (1831–1879), 1, 60, 114, 123, 140 Maxwell’s Demon, 1, 2, 4, 6, 38, 44, 56, 59–60, 61, 70, 98, 104, 114, 120, 140, 141, 150, 164, 167–169, 227 Mayr, E (1904–2005), 144 McCall,S., 157 Mechanics, 69 celestial, 69 classical, 64, 75, 84, 85, 89, 94, 96, 97, 100, 102, 113, 129, 130, 176 Newtonian, 41, 67, 68, 70, 86, 97, 187, 211, 219 statistical, 70, 158, 159, 161, 163 Mechanism, 35, 40, 64, 68, 70, 136 biological, 60, 140, 214 physical, 60, 140, 156, 158, 159 Memory, 139, 173, 195 See also Entropy Memory and entropy, 195–199 Mendel, G (1843–1884), 1, 60 Mendel’s Demon, 59–61 Micro-state, 123, 133, 160–162 See also Macro-state Micro-system, 99 Microtubule, 135 Milky Way, 5, 83, 168, 179, 180, 182, 184, 186, 190, 207 Mill, J.S (1806–1873), 42, 102, 148 Mind, 3, 4, 6, 21, 23, 38, 56–63, 66, 69, 92, 98, 102, 104–105, 109–110, 116–117, 134, 139, 187, 194–195, 198–199, 209, 220–221, 224, 227 See also Emergence archaic, 173, 177, 178, 218 damaged, 135 Darwinian theory of, 167 deterministic, 104 disembodied, 196 embodied, 109, 139 materialist theory of, 108, 140 mechanical, 106 Index Mind-body system, 196, 199 Mind-brain, 105–109, 110, 114, 135, 137–139, 167, 197 See also Brain-mind distinction Mind-brain identity, 106–107, 196–197, 199 See also Brain-mind distinction Minkowski, H (1864–1909), 186 Minkowski space-time, 91, 93, 186–190, 199, 205, 220 See also Space-time Models, 3, 17–32, 33–53, 58, 77, 82, 140, 146, 168, 193, 200, 211 See also Understanding, Representation analogue, 37, 38, 55 as if, 39, 55 as mediators, 33–36 astronomical, 43, 58 coherent, 28 concentric, 34 conceptual, 3, 27–28, 29, 37–38, 40, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52–53, 55, 227 Copernican, 58 cosmological, 77, 169, 179, 184, 217, 219 cyclic, 177 function of, 33, 45 functional, 37, 40, 41, 45 geocentric, 10, 34, 110 hypothetical, 37, 39, 41 mechanical, 53 of time, 211, 218, 221, 223–225 philosophical, 147, 200 planetary, 35, 40, 58 scale, 34, 37, 40, 42 scientific, 43, 55 structural, 33, 37, 40 theoretical, 37, 49, 52 typology of, 3, 37–40, 179 Montaigne de, M (1533–1592), 57 Multiverse, 2, 3, 5, 62, 159, 168, 175, 179–187, 204, 207–209, 211, 217, 219, 225 N Natural selection, 60–61, 109, 110, 138, 140, 214, 216 Nemesius (c AD 390), 173, 175, 177 Neptune, 36, 42, 71–72, 131, 156 Neuroscience, 105–106 Newton, I (1643–1727), 18, 20, 26, 35, 41, 58, 67, 68, 73, 94, 175, 178, 185, 187, 194, 206, 209, 211, 218, 219, 223–225 inverse-square law, 18, 23, 46 Nietzsche, F (1844–1900), 1–3, 5, 130, 174–175, 177 247 eternal recurrence, 178, 182–183 Nietzsche’s Demon, 2, 5, 6, 45, 56, 61, 120, 164, 168, 170–176, 177–178, 205, 223, 227 Norton, J., 21, 24–27 See also Thought experiment Now, 87, 153, 188, 195, 200, 204 moving, 191 physics of, 200, 203 universal, 5, 71, 90, 153, 187, 189, 190–191, 195, 199, 202–204, 219, 224 Number rational, 193 real, 193–194, 196, 198 O Ørsted, H.C (1777–1851), Order, 1–2, 4, 35, 41–42, 52–53, 60–62, 83, 94, 99, 118–119, 121, 125, 127–129, 137, 143–145, 150–152, 160, 164, 167, 189, 200, 216 linear, 193–198, 219 topological, 195, 196 Oresme, N (ỗirca 132082), 2324 Osiander, A (14981552), 5859 P Paradigm, 9, 47, 48, 71, 94, 227 Pascal, B (1623–1662), 57 Passage of time, 1, 4, 74, 82, 117, 118, 120, 121, 140, 159, 168, 173, 180, 186–192, 194–196, 200, 205, 209, 211, 217, 219, 223 Past-future asymmetry, 4, 79, 91, 117, 134, 145, 152, 153–167 Past Hypothesis, 156 Pauli, W (1900–1958), 187, 219 Pendulum, 35, 78 See also Models Penrose, R., 135 cycles of time, 183–184 Phase space, 125, 129, 145, 150–151, 160–162, 165, 167, 197, 206, 217 occupation of, 125 See also Spreading Phase space region, 129, 130 Phase-space volume, 4, 145, 151–152, 160 Phenomena empirical, observable etc., 6, 18–19, 26, 34, 39, 41, 43–44, 52–53, 58, 69, 85, 95 emergent, 107, 109–110, 137, 139–140, 167 mental, 106, 109 novel, 107, 109, 137 248 Photo-periodism, 220 Physics, 3, 4, 25, 49, 52, 59, 77, 79, 117, 120, 131, 133–135, 144, 158, 161 classical, 4, 64, 67–68, 71, 98, 116, 148, 163, 183–184, 192, 200, 206 modern, 12, 60, 84 Newtonian, 71, 94, 97 thermal, 133 Planck, M (1858–1947), 19–22, 47, 52–53, 57, 146 See also Thought experiment Planck’s constant, 44 Plato (428/7–348/7 BC), 9, 21–22, 38, 82, 117, 180, 194, 209, 223 Poincaré, H (1854–1912), 13–14, 26, 94, 95 recurrence time, 163, 164 thought experiment, 49 Poincaré’s theorem, 163 Popper, K.R (1902–1994), 44, 49, 51, 69, 228 Critical Rationalism, 49 pond analogy, 155, 164 ‘unplanned planning’ argument, 69 Popper’s Demon, 92, 93, 175 Possibilism, 191, 203 Possible world, 28–29, 32, 42, 44–46, 53, 55, 70, 77 Predictability, 2, 44, 66, 69, 71, 92, 95, 96, 98, 99, 113 See also Unpredictability Prediction, 33, 47, 52, 59, 65, 68, 70, 71, 73, 94, 95, 99, 100, 132, 147, 156 Presentism, 191, 203 Principle of Relativity, 85 Galilean, 85 Principle of Sufficient Reason, 65, 70, 146 Principle of the Invariance of the Speed of Light, 85–87 Probabilism, 89–91 Probability, 2, 25, 59, 68, 70, 91, 99, 123, 127, 131–134, 146–149, 155–158, 160, 162–164, 206 thermodynamic, 161, 164 Process, 18, 41, 77, 79, 107, 110, 119, 120, 139, 158, 196–197, 199, 218 causal, 216 entropic, 198 modelling, 34 cosmic, 1, 174–175 evolutionary, 216–217 irreversible, 79, 119, 127, 158, 163, 164, 173, 189, 205 periodic, 117, 201, 223 regular, 18, 117, 200–201, 223, 224 reversed/reversible, 77, 79, 163–164 thermodynamic, 82, 119, 161, 219 Index Ptolemy, C (ỗa 100160 AD), 11, 16, 36 Pure type, 23 See also Ideal types Q Quantum coherence, 135–137 Quantum mechanics Quantum physics, 28, 52, 99, 111, 119, 131, 136, 146–148, 163, 187, 191 See also Two-slit experiment, Understanding R Radioactive decay, 70, 99, 105 Randomness, 71, 98–101, 121, 127, 129, 131, 132, 137, 143 Rational choice, 81 Rationalism, 21 Realism temporal, 193–195 Realizability, 108, 197 See also Emergence multiple, 108 Reason, 8, 29–32, 103, 108, 109, 111, 113–114, 159, 213 See also Cause Reasoning, 15, 17, 23, 27, 29, 51, 138, 203 counterfactual, 3, 25–29, 32, 38, 53 hypothetical, 3, 25–29, 32, 37, 38, 53, 55 scientific, v, 1, 20–21, 33, 55, 227 Records, 120, 153–154, 156, 158, 162, 166, 197, 198 Regularity, 18, 35, 43, 192–195, 198–201, 210, 211, 223 See also Invariance Reference frame/system, 15, 16, 85, 86, 187, 202, 204, 218–219, 224 Reichenbach, H (1891–1953), 147 Relationism, 26, 219 See also Leibniz Relativity theory, 52 See also Special theory of relativity; General theory of relativity Representation, 35, 39–47, 52, 78, 121, 178, 185–187 See also Models Resemblance, 38, 42, 45 See also Representation Retrodictability, 66, 71 Retrodiction, 71–73, 92, 132, 156 Reversibility, Riccioli, G.B (1598–1671), 58 Ridley, M., 59, 60 Rømer, O (1644–1710), 86 S Sahlins, M., 104 Saint Augustine (354–430 AD), 153, 195, 203, 209, 221 discoverer of psychological time, 221 Index 'Saving the appearances', 18 Schrödinger, E (1887–1961), 52 See also Understanding Scientific Revolution, 6, 44, 48, 65, 174 Second Law of Thermodynamics, 2, 4, 61, 116, 121–124, 128, 140–143, 152, 156–166, 180, 182, 183, 185, 190, 205, 211, 217–219, 227 two traditional understandings of, 125 Similarity, 37, 42, 45, 214 See also Representation Simplicity, 43, 48, 49, 52, 59, 120 Simultaneity, 203 absolute, 189 relative, 191, 219–220, 223 Simultaneity of events, 88, 90–91, 187, 193 Simultaneity planes, 86–88, 94, 188, 190 Skepticism, 57–59 Snell’s law, 44 Social Contract theories, 38 Social sciences, 17, 37–41, 94, 147 See also Models Space, 3, 10, 14–15, 25, 52, 55, 61, 68, 86–91, 118, 122, 128, 143, 150, 153, 155, 157, 160, 162, 175, 186–190, 204, 206, 213 de Sitter, 185–186 gravitation-free, 26, 56 relational view, 14 Space-invaders, 97, 105 Space-time, 13, 74, 75, 81, 87, 90–93, 168, 188, 191, 203 curvature, 49, 186 dynamic view of, 91–93, 180 four-dimensional, 174, 186–187, 191, 200, 205 See also four-dimensional world representation of, 87, 187, 188, 191, 199, 200, 205 hourglass image, 174, 187 Minkowski, 186 time-orientable, 188, 189, 204, 205 Space-time models, 5, 186–190, 199 Special theory of relativity, 12, 75, 84–94, 96, 98, 100–102, 113, 121, 153, 186–190, 203, 211, 219, 220, 224 and determinism, 89–92 and fatalism, 92–94 Species, 5, 41, 138, 144, 214, 216, 218 diversity of, 109, 214, 217 249 evolution of, 141, 143, 216 Sphere, 10, 11, 13–15, 29, 49 celestial, 59 sublunary, 43, 218 superlunary, 43, 218 Spreading, 145, 157–161, 165–167, 197 See also Phase space spatial, 162 temporal, 160, 162 State antecedent (initial, past, prior), 70, 74, 83, 98, 114, 122, 127–128, 133, 150, 152, 156–157, 164–165, 175, 180, 185, 206 conscious, 136, 138–139, 140 consequent (future, posterior etc.), 66, 70, 74, 82–84, 98, 121, 128, 133–134, 152, 156, 165, 175, 180, 185 decohered, 162, 214 disordered, 162 fibrillated, 129 ordered, 13, 129, 130, 151, 160 of system etc., 65, 69, 71, 74, 77, 82, 85, 125, 129 present/current, 74, 83–84, 98, 100, 114, 131–132, 156–157, 165, 187 quantum, 119, 136, 158–159, 161 realizable, 164 Stern-Gerlach Experiments, 131, 132, 134, 149 Stevin, S (1548–1620), 26 Structure, 39, 40, 45, 53, 144 See also Models algebraic, 37, 40–42, 45 conceptual, causal, 68 genetic, 104 heliocentric, 41 topologic, 36, 40, 42 Substantivalism, 219 Succession of events, 82, 120, 147, 148, 150, 174, 178, 192, 194–197, 199–204, 210 order of, 200, 201, 210, 211, 224 Sun dials, 82, 170 Supervenience, 108–110, 135, 139 See also Emergence natural, 108 Switch-over point, 78, 176, 182, 217 Switch-over problem, 206, 213 System, 23, 31, 35–36, 42, 45, 51, 67–69, 71, 74, 83, 85–86, 89, 94, 99–100, 250 127–130, 136, 143, 145, 163, 164, 166, 187 biological, 135 closed, 160–161 coordinate, 86, 91, 220 deterministic, 64, 94, 107, 133 earth-moon system, 23 indeterministic, 4, 133, 134 local, 150, 152 mechanical, 96, 163 modelled, 34, 38, 39 nervous, 137 open, 162 physical, 65, 68, 98, 124, 161–162, 197, 199 planetary, 34, 35, 78 real, 34, 35, 45 sexagesimal, 202 solar, 18, 23, 34–35, 39, 41–42, 68, 70, 71, 78, 81, 95, 130–131, 134, 182, 202, 223 stochastic, 167 Systematization, 34–35, 41 See also Models T Temporal arrows, 5, 89, 167, 216 Temporal symmetry, 78, 83, 97, 164–165, 182, 184–186 Testing, 33, 49, 52, 53 Theories, 2, 3, 6, 20–23, 26, 33–34, 38, 41, 43, 48, 49, 52–53, 56, 93, 113, 117, 140, 168, 191, 223, 227–228 See also Models Thorne, K., 159 Thought experiment Argument View, 23–27 as inferential devices, 25 critical, 49, 51 constructive, 20, 51 destructive, 20, 23, 51 function of, 20, 27, 32, 45, 47–49 apologetic, 49 critical, 49, 51 heuristic, 49 heuristic value of, 27, 47 Model-Based Account, 28–32, 37, 45 paradox of, 51 Platonic View, 20–23, 51 political, 38 Three-body problem, 94, 105 Time absolute, 191, 194, 209–211, 219, 223–224 See also Time-universal Index anisotropy of, 62, 78, 82, 117–119, 122, 144, 181, 187, 210, 213, 217 as moving image of eternity, 117 biological, 220 cosmic, 190 cyclic, 173 empty, 210, 211 frozen, 211 human, 190, 200–204, 210, 216, 219–221 imaginary, 13–14 intersubjective, 193 materiality of, 219 measurement of, 117, 201–202, 209 mental, 5, 168, 192–194, 209, 211 models of, 200, 218, 221, 223–225 multi-fingered, 5, 164, 217–220 mythical, 174, 178, 218 phenomenal, 5, 118, 121, 190, 191–195, 199, 200, 203, 204, 210, 216, 217, 220 physical, 5, 118, 121, 164, 190, 191–195, 196–204, 210, 211, 216–220 private/subjective, 192, 193, 194, 198, 220 profane, 174, 218 psycho-physiological, 220 psychological, 118, 192, 220, 221 public, 192 relational view of, 14, 209–211, 219, 224 relative, 219, 220, 223 reversal of, 4, 77–79, 83, 97, 128–130, 163, 167, 185 subjectivity of, 219 units of, 201–203 universal, 199, 202, 218–219, 224 See also Time-absolute Time axis, 86, 190 Time dilation, 187 Time traveller, 45, 153, 165 Titius, J (1729–1796), 40 Topology, 164, 168 linear, 168 Triple collisions, 95 Two-slit experiment, 28 See also Stern-Gerlach Experiments U Unconscious, 42, 56, 105 Understanding, 3, 27, 33–34, 40, 51–57, 62, 89, 110, 122, 125, 128, 150, 228 See also Knowledge conceptual, 159 physical, 38, 59 Unification, 44 Index Universe See also Block universe, Gold universe age of, 127, 128, 164 as baby universe, 184–185 as clockwork universe, 1, 3, 64–65, 67, 70, 106, 113, 175, 210 as hourglass, 174 closed, 10, 118, 172, 175, 189 contraction of, 175, 179, 205, 207, 217 cosmoloical model of, 180–181 cyclic, 5, 168, 173–174, 176, 177, 183, 227 deterministic, 102, 104, 113 dynamic, 74–75, 186, 206, 211 empty, 196, 198 evolving, 75, 187, 191, 205, 216, 220, 225 expanding, 82, 121, 168–169, 175–176, 206 expansion of, 61, 175, 181–182, 186, 191, 205–207, 210, 213, 217, 219, 221 finite, 9, 49 frozen, 2, 210–211 geocentric, 81 homogeneous, 180 imaginary, 13 infinite, 9, 13, 175 inflationary, 179 isotropic, 180 oscillating, 5, 179, 182, 204, 208 recurring, 173, 176 self-reproducing, 179, 211 static, 74–75, 82, 182, 186, 187, 206 Unmoved Mover, 10, 15 251 Unpredictability, 96, 99, 125, 132 See also Predictability Uranus, 36, 42, 72 V Visualization, 52 See also Understanding W Water clocks, 82 Weber, M (1864–1920), 38–40 See also Ideal types; Pure types ‘what-if’ questions, 28–29, 48, 55 World classical, 3, 98, 100, 105, 130, 158, 168 deterministic, 1, 3, 64, 68, 70, 79, 82, 89, 92, 98, 100, 102, 113, 128, 150, 167, 227 four-dimensional, 89, 91, 113, 121 indeterministic, 4, 61, 95, 157 possible, 28, 29, 42, 44, 46 probabilistic, 45 World-lines, 74, 75, 86, 87, 93, 94, 188, 189, 205 Worldview deterministic, 67, 74, 105 geocentric, 9–11, 49, 58, 82, 117, 194, 201, 209, 223 Greek, 9, 34, 117, 118, 209 heliocentric, 9, 10, 68, 201 mechanistic, 65, 67, 71, 146 physical, 121 .. .The Demons of Science Friedel Weinert The Demons of Science What They Can and Cannot Tell Us About Our World 123 Friedel Weinert Faculty of Social Sciences University of Bradford... boundaries of what, in the name of demons, science tells us and does not tell us about our world It is undeniable that science plays a major role in the explanation, control and understanding of the. .. investigate our knowledge claims about the world If the demons teach us what they can and cannot tell us about the world, they will have done their job! Part I Thought Experiments In a thought