Written by philosophers, cosmologists, and physicists, this collection of essays deals with causality, which is a core issue for both science and philosophy. Readers will learn about different types of causality in complex systems and about new perspectives on this issue based on physical and cosmological considerations. In addition, the book includes essays pertaining to the problem of causality in ancient Greek philosophy, and to the problem of God's relation to the causal structures of nature viewed in the light of (...) contemporary physics and cosmology. [Subject: Philosophy, Cosmology, Physics, Religious Studies]. (shrink)

This paper presents some ideas of Henry Mehlberg on the problem of temporal localizability of psychological states belonging to a human being. There are three kinds of extra-physical time, referred to in Mehlberg's philosophy as psychological, inter-psychological, and psychophysical. The first one determines temporal order of psychological states belonging to the same self; the second one concerns psychological states of different selfs; the third one describes temporal relations between physical and psychological events. Physical time and all three kinds of extra-physical (...) time together form a single universal time. This article includes short characterisation of these temporal concepts and discusses some methods of psychophysical synchronisation. (shrink)

The present paper deals with the issue of some mutual dependencies between science and philosophy. It turns out that it is not possible easily to separate these two disciplines. All the great physical theories are entangled with notions and ideas which belong to the domain of philosophy. It is well known from the history of science that such notions and ideas very often were an important stimulus that pushed a scholar toward some strictly scientific problem and made him start working (...) on a physical theory which would allow to solve this problem. This subject matter is presented in the article in the context of scientific as well as philosophical achievements of Albert Einstein. It is shown that some philosophical ideas considerably influenced the process of formation of his relativity theory and of his first cosmological model. Special attention is paid to the so called Mach’s Principle, which is a postulate concerning the relativity of mass, and to the idea of staticity of the universe which caused Einstein to change his field equations in such a way that they would produce a static model of the universe. (shrink)

One of the most important and the most valuable theme that can be found in the philosophical writings of Joseph Życiński is the idea of the field of rationality, which is a kind of a formal field constituted by a net of mathematical structures and abstract relations. This hypothesis explains the so called mathematicity and rationality of nature by assuming that formal structures are ontologically prior to the physical phenomena. In the present paper the idea of the field of rationality (...) will be discussed. The article consists of three parts. The first deals with the problem of mathematicity which is a starting point of Życiński’s analyses, the second presents the most important features of the field he talks about, the third compares his idea with some concepts of Whitehead whose philosophy was his main source of inspiration. (shrink)

Nonlocality is one of the most uncommon features of the quantum world. This "spooky action at a distance" signifies a kind of instant interaction between places separated by space. This paper deals with a history of this notion and tries to answer the question of how and when this notion appeared as well as what were the factors of its evolution. The main source of information about this subject-matter is the history of science. In the paper the most important episodes (...) concerning nonlocality are presented, excluding the Bell's Theorem (1964), which proves nonlocal behavior of quantum objects and opens completely new period in the history of science. First, Newton's gravitational action at a distance is discussed. Afterwards, the problem of nonlocal interactions in quantum mechanics is sketched; special attention is paid to the EPR paradox. Finally, the interpretative disputes about nonlocality in the years preceding the Bell's Theorem are presented. (shrink)

The paper presents the stand of Henry Mehlberg on the nature of physical time. This is both an antirelational and relativistic outlook. It deals with the problem of ontological independence and physical reality of time, particularly in the context of discussion between relational and substantival theory of time, and criticism of the positivistic interpretation of relational theory. It outlines some arguments for reality of time, derived from the quantum physics. This conception is a philosophical basis of the causal theory of (...) time, created by Henry Mehlberg. (shrink)

Artykuł poświęcono krytycznej analizie kilka wybranych argumentów pojawiających się we współczesnej dyskusji dotyczącej interpretacji stwórczego działania Boga w świecie przyrody, rozpatrywanego w kontekście teorii ewolucji. W szczególności zwrócono uwagę na zastrzeżenia wobec tej teorii wysuwane przez niektórych przedstawicieli kreacjonizmu ujętego w ramy systemu metafizyki św. Tomasza, którzy nie widzą możliwości uzgodnienia ewolucji z teologiczną prawdą o stworzeniu świata przez Boga. Rozpatrzono również argumenty leżące u podstaw teorii inteligentnego projektu, która głosi, że oparta na przypadku ewolucja nie może w sposób adekwatny (...) wyjaśnić „nieredukowalnej złożoności” żywych organizmów, i że w związku z tym należy przyjąć, iż na przebieg procesów ewolucyjnych mają zasadniczy wpływ bezpośrednie działania Boga—Inteligentnego Projektanta. (shrink)

One of the essential aspects of the dispute between scientific realism and anti-realism is the question of the ontological status of unobservable objects assumed by scientific theories and models. Scientific realism claims that these objects exist in the natural world, while anti-realism denies this. The missing mass problem is a good example of an issue that requires that this question be resolved. In cosmology, this problem is solved by assuming the presence of dark matter and dark energy. The difficulty, however, (...) is that experience does not provide direct evidence for the existence of these two „substances.” In the first part of the article, the differences between scientific realism and anti-realism are discussed. In the second and third parts, the problem of the missing mass is presented (special attention is paid to the difficulties with the empirical confirmation of the existence of dark matter and dark energy). The fourth part of the article discusses the arguments of the supporters of half-realism, which is a kind of compromise between scientific realism and anti-realism. (shrink)

There are many interpretative problems, which are to be found in the domain of quantum mechanics, but the measurement problem is one of the most troublesome. According to the standard formulation of this theory, an observer is needed to cause a collapse of the wave function of any isolated quantum system. But in the case of the Universe - the possible largest isolated quantum system - there is no external observer that could be responsible for such a collapse. An interpretation (...) of quantum theory, which solves this difficulty, is the so called Many Worlds Theory, originally credited to Hugh Everett. This paper presents some main ideas of this theory and compares its qualities and faults. (shrink)

Artykuł jest próbą odpowiedzi na pytanie, jaką wartość dla teologicznej argumentacji za istnieniem Boga ma zasada antropiczna. Mówi ona o subtelnym „dostrojeniu” praw przyrody i parametrów kosmologicznych, bez którego we wszechświecie nie mógłby pojawić się człowiek. Wszechświat wydaje się zatem istnieć dla określonego celu, jakim jest „wyprodukowanie” rozumnego obserwatora. Ze względu na swój teleologiczny charakter zasada antropiczna jest podatna na interpretację teologiczną, w której zakłada się, że to Bóg powołuje do istnienia wszechświat przygotowany dla człowieka. W tym ujęciu Stwórca jawi (...) się jako projektant wszechświata, ale Jego projekt dotyczy tu tylko praw przyrody – z tej racji interpretacja ta różni się zasadniczo od tzw. teorii inteligentnego projektu. W artykule uzasadniono tezę, że zasada antropiczna jest ciekawym argumentem – ale nie naukowym dowodem – za racjonalnością religijnej wiary w Boga, który jest stwórcą wszechświata. (shrink)