62.198.97.148 at 18:53, 20 November 2014

2014-11-20T18:53:31Z

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	'''John Earman''' (born 1942) is a [[philosophy of physics\|philosopher of physics]]. He is an emeritus professor in the [[History and Philosophy of Science]] department at the [[University of Pittsburgh]]. He has also taught at UCLA, the Rockefeller University, and the University of Minnesota,<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~hpsdept/people/fac_pages/earman.html</ref> and was president of the Philosophy of Science Association.<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~philosop/people/earman.html</ref> He received his PhD from Princeton in 1968.<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~philosop/people/earman.html</ref> Earman is ~~on the Editorial Boards of~~ '~~'Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics'' and ''Physics in Perspective~~.'~~'<ref>http://www.pitt.edu/~hpsdept/people/fac_pages/earman.html</ref>~~		Hello, my title is Felicidad but I don't like when individuals use my complete name. What she loves doing is to play croquet but she hasn't made a dime with it. She is currently a cashier but soon she'll be on her own. Delaware is the only location I've been residing in.<br><br>my homepage - [http://v.tmsw.com/users/LKendall car warranty]

	~~==The hole argument==~~
	~~{{details\|hole argument}}~~
	Earman has notably contributed to debate about the "hole argument". The hole argument was invented for slightly different purposes by [[Albert Einstein]] late in 1913 as part of his quest for the [[general theory of relativity]] (GTR). It was revived and reformulated in the modern context by John3 (a ~~short form for the "three Johns": John Earman, [[John Stachel]], and John Norton)~~.

	With the GTR, the traditional debate between [[Absolute truth\|absolutism]] and [[relationalism]] has been shifted to whether or not [[spacetime]] is a substance, since the GTR largely rules out the existence of, e.g., absolute positions. The "hole argument" offered by John Earman is a ~~powerful argument against [[manifold substantialism]].~~

	~~This is a technical mathematical argument~~ but ~~can~~ be ~~paraphrased as follows:~~

	Define a function <math>d</math> as the identity function over all elements over the [[manifold]] <math>M</math>, excepting a small neighbourhood ([[topology]]) <math>H</math> belonging to <math>M</math>. Over <math>H</math>, <math>d</math> comes to differ from identity by a smooth function.

	With use of this function <math>d</math> we can construct two mathematical models, where the second is generated by applying <math>d</math> to proper elements of the first, such that the two models are identical prior to the time <math>t=0</math>, where <math>t</math> is a time function created by a [[foliation]] of spacetime, but differ after <math>t=0</math>.

	~~These considerations show that, since substantialism allows the construction of holes, that the universe must,~~ on ~~that view, be indeterministic~~. ~~Which, Earman argues,~~ is ~~a case against substantialism, as~~ the ~~case between [[determinism]] or [[indeterminism]] should be a question of physics, not of our commitment to substantialism.~~

	~~==Bibliography==~~
	*'~~'A Primer on Determinism''~~
	*''World Enough and Spacetime: Absolute vs. Relational Theories of Space and Time''
	*''Bayes or Bust: A Critical Examination of Bayesian Confirmation Theory''
	*''Bangs, Crunches, Whimpers and Shrieks: Singularities and Acausalities in ~~Relativistic Spacetimes''~~
	*''Hume's Abject Failure: The Argument Against Miracles''

	~~===Works in progress===~~
	*"Do the Laws of Physics Forbid the Operation of a Time Machine?" (with Christopher Smeenk).
	*"The Emperor's New Theory: The Semantic/Models View of Theories."
	*"Sharpening the Electromagnetic Arrow(s) of Time."
	*"Pruning Some Branches from 'Branching Spacetimes'."
	*"Models for an Evolving Block Universe."<~~ref~~>http://~~www~~.~~pitt~~.~~edu/~hpsdept/people~~/~~fac_pages~~/~~earman.html</ref>~~

	~~==See also==~~
	*[[American philosophy]]
	*[[List of American philosophers]]

	~~==References==~~
	~~{{reflist}}~~

	~~{{Authority control\|VIAF=109251342}}~~
	~~{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->~~
	~~\| NAME = Earman, John~~
	~~\| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =~~
	~~\| SHORT DESCRIPTION = American philosopher~~
	~~\| DATE OF BIRTH = 1942~~
	~~\| PLACE OF BIRTH =~~
	~~\| DATE OF DEATH =~~
	~~\| PLACE OF DEATH =~~
	}}
	~~{{DEFAULTSORT:Earman, John}}~~
	~~[[Category:Living people]]~~
	~~[[Category:1942 births]]~~
	~~[[Category:American philosophers]]~~
	~~[[Category:Philosophers of cosmology]]~~
	~~[[Category:Philosophers of science]]~~
	~~[[Category:University of Pittsburgh faculty]~~]

en>ChrisGualtieri: General Fixes using AWB

2013-10-20T22:40:06Z

General Fixes using AWB

Show changes

en>LutzL: This is not generalization but specialization of the general Newton method.

2012-06-21T14:33:59Z

This is not generalization but specialization of the general Newton method.

Show changes

Newton's method in optimization - Revision history

62.198.97.148 at 18:53, 20 November 2014

en>ChrisGualtieri: General Fixes using AWB

en>LutzL: This is not generalization but specialization of the general Newton method.