Two ways of looking at a Newtonian supertask (Q1863948)
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English | Two ways of looking at a Newtonian supertask |
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Two ways of looking at a Newtonian supertask (English)
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12 March 2003
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In 1996 the first author published a paper [Mind 105, 81--83 (1996)] where he discussed how indeterminism may be entailed in classical dynamics by means of supertasks, systems in which an infinite number of individual actions are performed in a finite time. In 1998, \textit{J. S. Alper} and \textit{M. Bridger} (AB) [Synthese 114, 335--369 (1998)] made a critical analysis on Pérez Laraudogoitia (PL) paper, rejecting his conclusion. In the next year, PL replied to AB [Synthese 119, No. 3, 313--323 (1999; Zbl 1032.70003)], arguing that AB did not solve the problems created by his supertask systems. Still in 1999 AB replied [Synthese 119, No. 3, 325--337 (1999; Zbl 1032.70002)] to PL's criticisms. In 2002 PL gave a new reply [Synthese 131, No. 2, 157--171 (2002; Zbl 1139.70001)]. Now, in the present paper, PL and AB seem to put together their disagreements and agreements within the same framework. Further examples of supertasks are proposed in order to illuminate some ideas.
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Newtonian theory of gravitation
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