Inconsistency, Asymmetry, and Non-Locality: A Philosophical Investigation of Classical Electrodynamics (Oxford Studies in the Philosophy of Science)

"Mathias Frisch provides the first sustained philosophical discussion of conceptual problems in classical particle-field theories. Part of the book focuses on the problem of a satisfactory equation of motion for charged particles interacting with electromagnetic fields. As Frisch shows, the standard equation of motion results in a mathematically inconsistent theory, yet there is no fully consistent and conceptually unproblematic alternative theory. Frisch describes in detail how the search for a fundamental equation of motion is partly driven by pragmatic considerations (like simplicity and mathematical tractability) that can override the aim for full consistency." "The book also offers a comprehensive review and criticism of both the physical and philosophical literature on the temporal asymmetry exhibited by electromagnetic radiation fields, including Einstein's discussion of the asymmetry and Wheeler and Feynman's influential absorber theory of radiation. Frisch argues that attempts to derive the asymmetry from thermodynamic or cosmological considerations fail and proposes that we should understand the asymmetry as due to a fundamental causal constraint." "The book's overarching philosophical thesis is that standard philosophical accounts that strictly identify scientific theories with a mathematical formalism and a mapping function specifying the theory's ontology are inadequate, since they permit neither inconsistent yet genuinely successful theories nor thick causal notions to be part of fundamental physics."--Jacket ## Abstract This book has two principal aims: to investigate the conceptual structure of classical electrodynamics, and show that investigating a particular scientific theory can shed light on concerns in the general philosophy of science. It focuses on two basic issues on the interaction between charged particles and classical fields. First, what is the equation of motion of a charged particle interacting with an electromagnetic field? Second, how does the presence of charged particles or sources affect the total field? The book is divided into two parts. Part I focuses on particles — different particle equations of motion and their properties. Part II focuses on fields and their symmetry properties in the presence of particles. Electrodynamics has largely been ignored by philosophers of science due to what Frisch says is a mistaken view that it is conceptually unproblematic. Part of the goal of this book is to show that classical physics, while successful in describing phenomena, has some very interesting conceptual problems worth discussing