PHIL 4380 - Philosophy of Physics

This course introduces student to philosophical questions pertaining to the foundations of the physical sciences. It will prepare students for advanced work in the area of general philosophy of science as well as in the very specialized field of philosophy of physics, and it will increase the value, to science majors, of the requirements in their own major. Students will read contemporary as well as historical materials pertaining to: the nature of space, time and their interrelations; the nature of physical quantities, the dependence relations amongst them, and the relationship of these dependence relations to causation; the conceptual shifts from classical physical theory to relativity and quantum theory; quantum puzzles and what they challenge; the way history shapes the development of fundamental physical concepts, and the way physical concepts shape the course of history.