Michael Drieschner Livres

This book presents a collection of texts by the German philosopher and physicist Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1912-2007), for use in seminars on philosophy, mainly epistemology and the philosophy of physics or foundations of quantum mechanics, but also for courses on German philosophy of the 20th century or the philosophy of science. Most texts appear in English for the first time. Weizsäcker became famous through his works in physics, later becoming well known as a philosopher and an analyst of contemporary culture and politics. He worked intensively on projects for the prevention of nuclear war and for peace in general. – Texts about classical philosophy are included as well as on logic, on the philosophy of biology and on the philosophy of mathematics, on “death” as well as on “power”.

This book presents a collection of texts by the German physicist and philosopher Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker (1912-2007), for use in seminars on the history, epistemology and structure of physics. Most texts appear in English for the first time. Weizsäcker became famous through his works in physics, mainly in the early development of nuclear physics. Later he would also become well known as a philosopher and analyst of contemporary culture. Texts include the original publications of the “Weizsäcker-Bethe formula” of nuclear masses and the “Bethe-Weizsäcker cycle,” which explains the source of energy in the sun; both were developed by Bethe at the same time and independently of Weizsäcker. Further texts deal with Weizsäcker’s explanation of the origin of planets, his explanation of the “time arrow” in Statistical Mechanics and his analyses of Quantum Mechanics and the structure of physics in general.

Enth.: Gespräch mit Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker / von Dieter Mersch.

Naturphilosophie beschäftigt sich philosophisch mit der Naturwissenschaft, im Gegensatz zur Wissenschaftstheorie aber vor allem mit ihren Inhalten und deren Bedeutung. Die vorliegende Einführung soll einen Überblick über die relevanten Fragen geben und vor allem zur eigenen Lektüre und zum eigenen Nachdenken anregen. Die Themen im einzelnen: Relativitätstheorie, Quantentheorie, Grundfragen der Evolutionstheorie (Bedeutung der “Gene”); Kognitionstheorie (“Leib-Seele-Problem”). Die leitende Frage ist dabei: Wie beschreibt Naturwissenschaft die Wirklichkeit, und was ist die Bedeutung dieser Beschreibung für das menschliche Leben? Der Text kommt ohne Formeln aus, ein mathematisch-physikalischer Anhang bietet Nachschlagemöglichkeiten für spezieller interessierte Leser. Mit einem ausführlichen Glossar und Register.