Modern physics has had far-reaching philosophical implications for our understanding of space, time, matter; the picture of the world that arises from special relativity, general relativity, and quantum mechanics seems to violate many long-established philosophical intuitions. Moreover, all three of these theories were, in their origins and development, influenced by philosophical ideas about the nature of physical knowledge itself. We will consider some of the metaphysical and epistemological questions that arise from modern physics, including: Are space, time, and motion objective, or merely relative to the observer? Are the laws of physics founded on fact, or on convention? Is the indeterminism of quantum physics a reflection of our ignorance of the true laws of physics, or a genuine feature of the world? Does the world have objective properties at all, independently of our ability to measure them?

Texts:

Einstein, Relativity: The Special and the General Theory (Available at the UWO bookstore)
Rae, Quantum Physics: Illusion or Reality? (Available at the UWO bookstore)
Package of photocopies (Available at Inprint, UCC 34)

Requirements:

1 midterm exam (25%)
1 short essay (25%)
1 final exam (40%)
Class participation (10%)

Lecture Slides

Final Exam Topics

Review Session: Monday, April 16, 11:00 AM- 1:00 PM, Talbot 305

Essay Assignment

Reading Assignments

Lecture Notes II: The Structure of Spacetime

Lecture Notes III: The Origins of Special Relativity

Lecture Notes IV: From Special Relativity to General Relativity

Lecture Notes V: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Part I.

Lecture Notes VI: Introduction to Quantum Mechanics, Part II.