Spontaneity in Nature and its Relation to Randomness and Indeterminism
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2024-08-14
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en
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The term `spontaneous' appears in various contexts in modern physics, but it also has a long history in natural philosophy. Its Greek analogue to automaton is studied by Aristotle, and the Latin phrase sponte sua is used extensively by Lucretius. Peirce also introduces spontaneity in the context of his tychism. In this thesis we give a historical overview of these uses of spontaneity and compare them to spontaneity in thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. We examine the relation to quantum measurement. We argue that in the Copenhagen interpretation, no quantum event can be said to be truly spontaneous, but that true spontaneity does exist in spontaneous collapse theories. Finally we investigate the relation of spontaneity to randomness and indeterminism.
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Faculteit der Filosofie, Theologie en Religiewetenschappen