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

Briefly mentions [Duhem](https://isidore.co/calibre/#panel=book_details&book_id=4506) and Ritz, but not Weber nor Ampère. heard about in this Philosophy StackExchange post: "[Inconsistency of Classical Electrodynamics](https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/q/65047/2014)" * * * pt. 1, ch. 2, §3 "The Inconsistency Proof" appears to amount to a criticism of the field concept (pp. 32-3): > The Maxwell–Lorentz equations allow us to treat two types of problems (see Jackson 1975, 1999). We can use the Maxwell equations to determine the fields associated with a given charge and current distribution, or we can use the Lorentz force law to calculate the motion of a charged particle in a given external electromagnetic field. In problems of the first type, the charges and currents are specified and, given particular initial and boundary conditions (which specify the source-free fields), the total electromagnetic field is calculated. In problems of the second type, the external electromagnetic fields are specified and the motions of charged particles or currents are calculated. Electric charges are treated *either* as being affected by fields *or* as sources of fields, but not both. That is, in both types of problems one ignores any effects that the field associated with a charge itself—the *self-field* —might have on the motion of that charge. (I'm surprised Frisch doesn't mention [Ampère's](https://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~assis/Amperes-Electrodynamics.pdf) or [Weber's](https://archive.org/stream/electricandmag02maxwrich#page/n457/mode/2up) instantaneous action-at-a-distance force laws.) See §3.1 "Multiple Definitions of the Field Concept" and §3.2 "These Different Field Definitions Contradict One Another" of * [Assis, André K. T.](https://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~assis/) [*Relational Mechanics and Implementation of Mach’s Principle with Weber’s Gravitational Force*](https://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~assis/Relational-Mechanics-Mach-Weber.pdf). Montréal: Apeiron, 2014, pp. 43-55. Assis, like Ampère would have,* considers the field concept useless "epicycles" or [scaffoldings](https://isidore.co/calibre/#panel=book_details&book_id=4506) of the physical theory. *cf. [Ampère, Assis, & Chaib 2015](https://www.ifi.unicamp.br/~assis/Amperes-Electrodynamics.pdf) §16.5 "'Ampère' Against the Field Concept", pp. 234-5 I like how Frisch (p. 36) quotes Duhem's [*Aim & Structure of Physical Theory* p. 220](https://isidore.co/calibre/#panel=book_details&book_id=4506) regarding how a physical theory must "aim to preserve with jealous care a logical unity", but Frisch should've also cited [*ibid.* ch. 4 "Abstract Theories & Mechanical Models", §10 " *Should the Use of Mechanical Models* [e.g., fields] *Suppress the Search for an Abstract and Logically Ordered Theory?* "](https://isidore.co/calibre/#panel=book_details&book_id=4506). * * * 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. "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 Contents 10 Preface 8 Chapter 1: Introduction: Theories and Models 14 Part One: Particles 34 Chapter 2: Inconsistency 36 Chapter 3: In Search of Coherence 58 Chapter 4: Non-Locality 84 Part Two: Fields 112 Chapter 5: The Arrow of Radiation 114 Chapter 6: Absorber and Entropy Theories of Radiation 132 Chapter 7: The Retardation Condition 156 Chapter 8: David Lewis on Waves and Counterfactuals 176 Chapter 9: Conclusion 204 Notes 206 Bibliography 214 Index 220 A 220 B 220 C 221 D 221 E 221 F 221 G 221 H 221 I 221 J 222 K 222 L 222 M 222 N 222 O 222 P 222 Q 222 R 222 S 223 T 223 V 223 W 223 Y 223 Z 223 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