Civil War

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The civil war begins today in the Senate. Just because the facts will likely never be established it is possible for either side to take exception to the other side. The bad feeling and distrust is now turned up very high.

I found  Professor Ford convincing and Judge Kavanaugh unconvincing. If they appoint him to the Supreme Court it will be a political liability for the Republicans for many years to come. They should hope that they can’t get the votes (though they can’t say this). The GOP has already discredited itself in the eyes of most voters with the antics of Trump, but appointing Kavanaugh would really turn many people against them for ever.

 

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Pauli Exclusion and Spatio-Temporal Coincidence

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I have heard it said by people who fancy themselves physicists that Pauli exclusion is the explanation for why there cannot be two objects in the same place at the same time. This is claimed in criticism of my discussion of the latter principle in my book Basic Structures of Reality. It is completely wrong and totally misunderstands the principle in question. That principle has to do with questions of individuation and metaphysical necessity not the laws of physics (see David Wiggins’ classic discussion in “On Being in the Same Place at the Same Time” in Philosophical Review 1968). Pauli exclusion has to do with quantum states not quantum particulars, and anyway does not apply to many particles (only to fermions). Those who essay this criticism are clearly ignorant of the metaphysical issues at stake.

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