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History and Philosophy of Science
Eötvös University, Budapest
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Philosophy
of Science Colloquium
Room 6.54 (6th floor)
Monday 4:00 PM
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| Pázmány
P. sétány 1/A Budapest |
Phone/Fax:
(36-1) 372 2924 |
Location? |
20
September 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 
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Robert Bishop
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Philosophy,
Probability, and Modeling Group
Center for Junior Research Fellows
University of Konstanz |
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Free will and physics
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Is
our will genuinely free and, if so, how are we to conceive of this
freedom? These are clearly two of the most profound questions
concerning our human condition. Developments in modern physics over the
previous century have led many philosophers and physicists to speculate
on the relevance of physics to questions concerning free will.
Determinists such as J. J. C. Smart, Ted Honderich and Derk Pereboom
have argued that quantum mechanics is either irrelevant to brain
operations, consciousness and free will, or requires incredible
coincidences in order to be involved in free will. Recent work by Henry
Stapp, and Ilya Prigogine and collaborators, however, suggest a kind of
interplay between determinism and indeterminism offering new avenues
for research on how physics may be connected with consciousness and
free will.
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27
September 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 
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László E. Szabó
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Theoretical
Physics Research Group
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest |
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Does principle of
relativity hold in relativistic physics?
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In
classical mechanics, Galilean covariance and the principle of
relativity are completely equivalent and hold for all possible
dynamical processes. In contrast, in relativistic physics the situation
is much more complex. It will be shown that Lorentz covariance and the
principle of relativity are not completely equivalent. The reason is
that the principle of relativity actually only holds for the
equilibrium quantities that characterize the equilibrium state of
dissipative systems. In the light of this fact it will be argued that
Lorentz covariance should not be regarded as a fundamental symmetry of
the laws of physics.
Related paper:
L. E. Szabó, On the meaning of Lorentz
covariance, Foundations of Physics
Letters (forthcoming) [preprint: PS,
PDF]
Lecture slides:
PDF
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Comments & Discussion
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The 60-minute lecture is followed by a
10-minute break. Then
we hold a 30-60-minute discussion. The language of the presentation is
indicated
in the following way:
English
 English,
except if all participants speak Hungarian
Hungarian
The
participants may comment on the talks and are encouraged to initiate
discussion through the
Internet. The comments should be written in the language of the
presentation.
The organizer
of the colloquium: László E. Szabó
(email: leszabo@hps.elte.hu)
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