Viewing physical theories as symbolic constructions came to the fore in the middle of the nineteenth century with the emancipation of the classical theory of the electromagnetic field from mechanics; most notably this happened through the work of Helmholtz, Hertz, Poincaré, and later Weyl. The epistemological problems that nourished this development are today highlighted within quantum field theory. The present essay starts off with a concise and non-technical outline of the firmly based aspects of relativistic quantum field theory, i.e. the very successful description of subnuclear phenomena. The particular methods, by which these different aspects have to be accessed, then get described as distinct facets of quantum field theory. The authors show how these different facets vary with respect to the relation between quantum fields and associated particles. Thus, by emphasising the respective role of various basic concepts involved, the authors claim that only a very general epistemic approach can properly account for this diversity - an account they trace back to the philosophical writings of the aforementioned physicists and mathematicians. Finally, what they call their semiotic perspective on quantum field theory gets related to recent discussions within the philosophy of science and turns out to act as a counterbalance to, for instance, structural realism.

Quantum gravity is the name given to a theory that unites general relativity - Einstein's theory of gravitation and spacetime - with quantum field theory, our framework for describing non-gravitational forces. The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity brings together philosophers and physicists to discuss a range of conceptual issues that surface in the effort to unite these theories, focusing in particular on the ontological nature of the spacetime that results. Although there has been a great deal written about quantum gravity from the perspective of physicists and mathematicians, very little attention has been paid to the philosophical aspects. This volume closes that gap, with essays written by some of the leading researchers in the field. Individual papers defend or attack a structuralist perspective on the fundamental ontologies of our physical theories, which offers the possibility of shedding new light on a number of foundational problems. It is a book that will be of interest not only to physicists and philosophers of physics but to anyone concerned with foundational issues and curious to explore new directions in our understanding of spacetime and quantum physics.

In recent years, many philosophers of modern physics came to the conclusion that the problem of how objectivity is constituted (rather than merely given) can no longer be avoided, and therefore that a transcendental approach in the spirit of Kant is now philosophically relevant. The usual excuse for skipping this task is that the historical form given by Kant to transcendental epistemology has been challenged by Relativity and Quantum Physics. However, the true challenge is not to force modern physics into a rigidly construed static version of Kant’s philosophy, but to provide Kant’s method with flexibility and generality. In this book, the top specialists of the field pin down the methodological core of transcendental epistemology that must be used in order to throw light on the foundations of modern physics. First, the basic tools Kant used for his transcendental reading of Newtonian Mechanics are examined, and then early transcendental approaches of Relativistic and Quantum Physics are revisited. Transcendental procedures are also applied to contemporary physics, and this renewed transcendental interpretation is finally compared with structural realism and constructive empiricism. The book will be of interest to scientists, historians and philosophers who are involved in the foundational problems of modern physics.

Contents: Leon KOJ: Methodology and values. - Leon KOJ: Science as system. - Adam GROBLER: Explanation and epistemic virtue. - Piotr GIZA: Intelligent computer systems and theory comparison. - Henryk OGRYZKO-WIEWIEROWSKI: Methods of social choice of scientific theories. - Kazimierz JODKOWSKI: Is the causal theory of reference a remedy for ontological incommensurability? - Wolfgang BALZER: On approximative reduction. - C. ULISES MOULINES: Is there genuinely scientific progress? - Adam JONKISZ: On relative progress in science."

The volume deals with ontological and semantical issues concerning things, facts and events. Ontology tells us about what there is, whereas semantics provides answers to how we refer to what there is. Basic ontological categories are commonly accepted along with basic linguistic types, and linguistic types are accepted as basic if and because they refer to acknowledged ontological categories. In that sense, both disciplines are concerned with structure - the structure of the world and the structure of our language. An extended introduction overviews the topic as a whole, presenting in detail its history and the main contemporary approaches and discussions. More than 20 contributions by internationally acknowledged scholars make the volume a comprehensive study of some very fundamental philosophical entities.

This is a controversial collection of brand new papers by some outstanding philosophers and scholars. Its aim is to offer comprehensive theistic replies to the traditional arguments against the existence of God.

From the contents: Charles MORGAN: Canonical models and probabilistic semantics. - Francois LEPAGE: A many-valued probabilistic logic. - Piers RAWLING: The exchange paradox, finite additivity, and the principle of dominance. - Susan VINEBERG: The logical status of conditionalization and its role in confirmation. - Deborah MAYO: Science, error statistics, and arguing from error. - Mark N. LANCE: The best is the enemy of the good: Bayesian epistemology as a case study in unhelpful idealization. - Robert B. GARDNER & Michael C. WOOTEN: An application of Bayes' theorem to population genetics. - Peter D. JOHNSON, Jr.: Another look at group selection."

From the contents: Naturalistic epistemology, murder and suicide? But what about the promises! (Ton Derksen). - Naturalism and rationality (Christopher Hookway). - Quine's hypothetical theory of language learning: a comparison of different conceptualschemes of their logic (Mia Gosselin). - Quine and innate similarity spaces (Jaap van Brakel). - Quine and Davidson on the structure of empirical knowledge (Dirk Koppelberg). - Empathy and charity (Eva Picardi). - Quine: indeterminacy, 'robust realism', and truth (Sandra Laugier). - Quine and Putnam on conceptual relativity and reference: theft or honest toil? (Roger Vergauwen).