David Albert
Professor of Philosophy, Columbia University
David Z Albert the is Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy and Director of the M.A. Program in The Philosophical Foundations of Physics at Columbia University. He is the author of "Time and Chance," "Quantum Mechanics and Experience," among others. He received his B.S. in physics from Columbia College (1976) and his doctorate in theoretical physics from The Rockefeller University. He lives in New York City.
Though modern science may present us with the unflattering image of human life as a “bottomless terror,” New Age attempts to disguise the truth and embellish this portrait are what […]
▸
5 min
—
with
The illusion that time moves and is distinct from space is one of our deepest misconceptions about the natural world.
▸
12 min
—
with
Do some of the essential findings of modern science rule out the possibility of free will? Is there a separation between mental and physical entities? Does it matter? The philosopher […]
▸
6 min
—
with
What is quantum mechanics? A philosopher of science explains how it emerged as the necessary response to classical physics.
▸
4 min
—
with
What will it take to test one of the most ambitious scientific theories of our time? At this point, even the grandest effort to establish its truth will be far […]
▸
4 min
—
with
Throughout much of the 20th century, quantum mechanics seemed to kill the idea that human beings could develop an “intelligible, mechanical model of the world.” But today, the search for […]
▸
5 min
—
with
The philosopher of physics explains the “unsettling” manner in which movement, at its most essential level, breaks down cognitive categories and exhausts the capacities of human logic.
▸
11 min
—
with
The fundamental contradictions of physics are present in even the most quotidian of objects. As the philosopher of science explains, some of quantum mechanics’ greatest mysteries are embodied in a […]
▸
4 min
—
with
A conversation with the philosopher of science at Columbia University.
▸
53 min
—
with
What can a philosophy of science really accomplish? As the head of Columbia’s Philosophy of Physics program explains, the field is at its healthiest when philosophy and science are indistinguishable […]
▸
4 min
—
with