Richard taught at the University of Arizona from 1991 to 2020. He taught a variety of courses in philosophy of science, including philosophy of biology and physics.
Regularly Taught Courses
Philosophy of Quantum Mechanics
Course Description.
A primary goal of the philosophy of physics is to interpret our best physical theories. Quantum mechanics is perhaps the most successful theory of all time, when judged by the scope and accuracy of its predictions and its explanatory power. But ever since its consolidation 80 years ago there have been heated debates about how it should be understood. As we’ll see, the issues raised in the classic debate between Bohr and Einstein have been sharpened, but not clearly resolved, by subsequent thinkers.
One such issue is indeterminism: does quantum mechanics show that physical processes are ultimately chancy, so that exactly similar circumstances may lead to different outcomes? If it does, then what becomes of our concept of causation (not to mention free will)? Another issue is locality: does quantum mechanics show that a distant system may be instantaneously affected by what is done to another system hereabouts? If it does, then isn’t that incompatible with the theory of relativity?
In quantum mechanics, measurement seems to play a very different role than in other theories. Do our observations create, rather than merely revealing, the phenomena? If they do, what can we say about any world (or worlds!) lying behind these phenomena? Can quantum mechanics even give a consistent account of the process of measurement?
We may also take a quick look at some currently “hot” topics like quantum computation and information, quantum cryptography, and quantum teleportation.