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Quantum Field Theory for Philosophers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2022

Michael L.G. Redhead
Michael L.G. Redhead*
Affiliation:
Chelsea College, London
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Extract

…the quantum theory of fields is the contemporary locus of metaphysical research. (Stein 1970, p. 285)

It is now generally recognized that Quantum Field Theory (QFT), after many vicissitudes and a period of almost total neglect, has emerged during the last ten years as a triumphant framework in which to do elementary particle physics.

If philosophers are prepared to use current physical theory as a guide to resolving metaphysical questions (and that is a big “If”), then QFT is what philosophers should all be studying. But the subject is notoriously.recondite, and philosophers are busy people, so the objective of the present paper is to cut through all technicalities and try to tell in as straightforward a way as possible just what QFT has to say about “reality”.

Type
Part I. High-Energy Physics
Information
PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association , Volume 1982 , Issue 2: Volume Two: Symposia and Invited Papers 1982 , 1982 , pp. 57 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 Philosophy of Science Association

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Footnotes

1

Edward MacKinnon, Andrew Pickering, Michael Redhead and Paul Teller provided very helpful comments on a preliminary draft of this paper.

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