The apparent incompatibility between foreknowledge and free will is traditionally formulated in terms of the implication of knowledge of a future event for the freedom of that event. This paper reexamines the problem using the notions of causal order and physical determination provided by modern physics. I consider measurements of two entangled particles at spacelike-separated events, where a measurement outcome is taken to be free if it is not determined by the previous history of the part of the universe accessible to it. Relativity allows the temporal order of the two measurements to be reversed between reference frames while preserving their causal independence. Quantum correlations nevertheless allow an observer at one measurement event to know the outcome at the other. I show that there is, therefore, a frame in which an observer possesses foreknowledge of a measurement outcome that remains free in this sense. The argument demonstrates that epistemic access to a future event need not be grounded in physical conditions that determine it.
Everettian quantum mechanics is often said to lack coherent probability because every possible measurement result occurs. If all of them exist globally, what is probability supposed to be a probability of? This paper defends an axiomatic answer: normalized Born measure is postulated as objective probability over the re...
The existence of middle-sized systems in the universe is far from accidental; it carries significant consequences for our understanding of both physics and metaphysics, bearing on the epistemic assumptions of the former and the role of causality in the latter. By examining how science actually engages with individual...
Non-relativistic classical physics can be considered from a contextual perspective. At fi rst glance, the difference between classical physics (including special relativity) and quantum physics lies in the fact that the latter is indeterministic – that is, in general, the context of a quantum event cannot be controlled...
I. Pris· Siberian Journal of Philosop...· 0 citations
In this paper, we do not try to solve the measurement problem, but rather to properly formulate it. One of the reasons why it still lacks a precise, agreed definition is that the problem may take very different aspects depending on the interpretation of quantum mechanics embraced. Inspired by the methodology of theory-...
The aim of this article is to problematize the notion of the arrow of time by distinguishing between theories that allow for the definition of a temporal orientation and those that could explain its origin. It argues that a non-circular explanation of directionality is required, one that differs from operational criter...
Leonardo Alberto Ortiz Acuña· Revista de filosofia de la U...· 0 citations
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