Table Of ContentThe Consistency of Arithmetic
The Consistency of Arithmetic
AND OTHER ESSAYS
Storrs McCall
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McCall, Storrs.
The consistency of arithmetic : and other essays / Storrs McCall.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978–0–19–931654–0 (alk. paper)
1. Philosophy, Canadian—20th century. I. Title.
B995.M331 2013
191—dc23
2013008563
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
{ CONTENTS }
Provenance of the essays vii
Introduction 1
1. The consistency of arithmetic 8
2. Can a Turing machine know that the Gödel sentence is true? 28
3. On “seeing” the truth of the Gödel sentence 36
4. How to make a decision 41
5. Indeterminist free will 52
STORRS MCCALL AND E.J. LOWE
6. The determinists have run out of luck—for a good reason 61
STORRS MCCALL AND E.J. LOWE
7. Action based on deliberation and decision 65
8. Controlled indeterministic processes in action theory 76
9. The causative power of conscious choice 86
10. The open future and its exploitation by rational agents 91
11. Does the brain lead the mind? 102
12. 3D/4D equivalence, the twins paradox, and absolute time 106
STORRS MCCALL AND E.J. LOWE
13. Philosophical consequences of the twins paradox 116
14. The 3D/4D controversy: A storm in a teacup 130
STORRS MCCALL AND E.J. LOWE
15. Laws of nature and branching spacetime 139
16. Objective time flow 154
17. Time flow 178
18. QM and STR: The combining of quantum mechanics and
relativity theory 186
vi Contents
19. Downward causation, biological information, and
development fields 199
STORRS MCCALL AND E.J. LOWE
20. The supervenience of truth: freewill and omniscience 212
21. An insoluble problem 217
Index 219
{ PROVENANCE OF THE ESSAYS }
Can a Turing machine know that the Gödel sentence is true? The Journal of
Philosophy 96.10 (1999), pp. 525–532.
On “seeing” the truth of the Gödel sentence. Facta Philosophica 3.2 (2001),
pp. 25–29.
How to make a decision. In Action, Rationality and Decision, ed. Vanderveken
and Fisette. London: College Publications (2008), pp. 325–338.
Indeterminist free will, by Storrs McCall and E.J. Lowe. Philosophy and
Phenomenological Research 70.3 (2005), pp. 681–89.
The determinists have run out of luck, for a good reason, by Storrs McCall and
E.J. Lowe. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 77.3 (2008), pp. 745–748.
The open future and its exploitation by rational agents. In Around the
tree: Semantic and metaphysical issues concerning branching and the open future,
ed. Correia and Iacona. Dordrecht: Springer (2012), pp. 95–104.
Does the brain lead the mind? Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 86.2
(2013), pp. 262–265.
3D/4D equivalence, the twins paradox, and absolute time, by Storrs McCall
and E.J. Lowe. Analysis 63.2 (2003), pp. 114–123.
Philosophical consequences of the twins paradox. The Ontology of Spacetime,
ed. D. Dieks. Amsterdam: Elsevier (2006), pp. 191–204.
The 3D/4D controversy: A storm in a teacup, by Storrs McCall and E.J. Lowe.
Nous 40.3 (2006), pp. 570–78.
Laws of nature and branching spacetime. Paper presented at the annual meet-
ing of the Society for Exact Philosophy, Winnipeg, Manitoba, May 2011.
Objective time flow. Philosophy of Science 43.3 (1976), pp. 337–362.
Time flow. In The Importance of Time, ed. L.N. Oaklander. Dordrecht: Kluwer
Academic Publishers (2001), pp. 143–151.
QM and STR: The combining of quantum mechanics and relativity theory.
Philosophy of Science (Proceedings) 67 (2000), pp. S535–S548.
The supervenience of truth: freewill and omniscience. Analysis 71.3 (2011),
pp. 501–506.
An insoluble problem. Analysis 70.4 (2010), pp. 647–48.
The Consistency of Arithmetic
Description:This volume contains six new and fifteen previously published essays -- plus a new introduction -- by Storrs McCall. Some of the essays were written in collaboration with E. J. Lowe of Durham University. The essays discuss controversial topics in logic, action theory, determinism and indeterminism,
