ON THEORIES

Demopoulos wrote, “for the eye and soul of God” as he used his old saying. The remarkable achievement of On Theories is a deep argument for a new thesis about truth in scientific theories. It covers everything from case studies on our understanding of molecular reality to Einstein’s dispute about quantum reality. Jeffrey Bub, University of Maryland. Theories is a meticulous analysis of the seemingly simple concept of theory that takes us on an exciting trip through science and philosophy of science in twentieth-century America. Demopoulos presents a new interpretation of quantum mechanics’ major breakthroughs, as well as critiques the theory/observation dichotomy. The book On Theories, which is both meticulous in its historical analysis as well as compelling in its philosophical argument, is essential reading for anyone who is interested in science and its methods. Yemima Ben Menahem, Hebrew University of JerusalemWilliam Dempoulos was one of leading philosophers of science of his time. He was a highly skilled logician, with unrivalled mastery over the logicist tradition. However, he was equally productive in modern philosophy of physics, particularly philosophy of quantum physics. The epistemology, ontology, and physical theories that he had been actively researching for over two decades are brought to an end with Theories. This book is not only important, but also a landmark in the evolution of the discipline. Thomas Uebel University of Manchester
This is the final work of a renowned philosopher, which explains how the logical empiricist tradition failed to recognize the importance of actual experiments in its philosophy of science. The twentieth century philosophy of science was dominated by a logical empiricist approach to physics. The logical empiricist tradition is a great way to understand how empirical evidence works in modern Physics, despite all its accomplishments. William Demopoulos, a philosopher of science, argued that philosophers have not provided an adequate epistemology for science because they have failed understand the intricately woven nature of evidence and theory. Theory is separated from evidence. This is especially true when it comes to quantum and particle physics theories. Demopoulos argues that it is important to consider historical experiments in order to understand them. He also offers a new epistemology for theories and evidence that stands on the shoulders giants. On Theories reveals the truth in Isaac Newton’s suspicion that mere “hypotheses” are false. Newton’s method is rooted in Jean Perrin and Robert Millikan’s subatomic investigations into molecular reality. Demopoulos expands on this account to provide new insights into quantum reality’s distinctive nature. On Theories combines John Stewart Bell’s empirical analysis and logico-mathematical reconstructions of Bohrian complementarity with John Stewart Bell’s empirical analysis about Einstein’s “local reality.” This ultimately leads to a new interpretation for quantum probabilities that objectively represent empirical reality.