John Forge

The University of Sydney · Unit for History and Philosophy of Science

If it were not for weapons research, there would be no predator drones or smart bombs or improvised explosive devices or assault rifles. The insurgents in the Middle East and elsewhere would have no means to fight, and there would be no wars, large or small. Even more importantly, there would be no vast arsenals of thermonuclear weapons capable of...

If it were not for weapons research, there would be no predator drones or smart bombs or improvised explosive devices or assault rifles. The insurgents in the Middle East and elsewhere would have no means to fight, and there would be no wars, large or small. Even more importantly, there would be no vast arsenals of thermonuclear weapons capable of...

Weapons research is conducted at particular times and places, under certain circumstances and conditions. I have expressed this by saying that weapons research takes place in some context. There have been instances of individuals conducting weapons research simply out of interest—Hiram Maxim the inventor of the first effective machine gun, fits the...

If there can be no ahistorical justification for weapons research, then all attempts at justification must be historical: they must refer to the situations and circumstances in which weapons are actually used. In view of the general condition for all such justification, in terms of harm prevention, it must be the case that the harms caused by the u...

In order the make the case against weapons research we need to know what weapons research is, and the aim of this chapter is to explain what it is. There is no need to come up with an absolutely precise definition which includes every instance of weapons research and excludes everything else, a kind of ‘demarcation criterion’. We do, however, have...

Weapons are artefacts, which is to say that they are ‘man-made’, crafted by us for some end or reason. Artefacts are of two basic kinds: the aesthetic and the practical. The former are made to be admired, while the later are made because the help us achieve something, either something that we could not do unaided, or do something more cheaply, more...

The primary purpose of weapons is to harm: this is what weapons do, this is what they are designed to do, and the more effectively and efficiently they harm, the better they are as weapons. Weapons are exceptional in this regard, for no other artefacts are intentionally produced to do something that all of us agree is bad. If this is so, then there...

In order to argue that weapons research is morally wrong and, in addition, that it is morally unjustifiable, it is necessary to appeal to some system of morality. This is because it is necessary, in the first place, to understand just exactly what is at stake. When I claim that weapons research is morally wrong, what am I saying, and what does it m...

If it were not for weapons research, there would be no predator drones or smart bombs or improvised explosive devices or assault rifles. The insurgents in the Middle East and elsewhere would have no means to fight, and there would be no wars, large or small. The main issue for ethics and weapons research centers on the moral evaluation of this kind...

This book addresses the morality of engaging in weapons research, a topic that has been neglected but which is extremely important. It is argued that this activity is both morally wrong and morally unjustifiable, and this implies that moral persons should not engage in it. The argument is not based on any pacifist assumptions: it is not assumed tha...

Weapons research seeks to design new or improved weapons and their ancillary structures. This chapter argues that weapons research is both morally wrong and morally unjustified. This "case against weapons research" requires lengthy discussion and the argument given here is a summary of that discussion. The central claim is that the "standard justif...

If it were not for weapons research, there would be no predator drones or smart bombs or improvised explosive devices or assault rifles. The insurgents in the middle east and elsewhere would have no means to fight, and there would be no wars, large or small. The main issue for ethics and weapons research centres on the moral evaluation of this kind...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the topic of the social responsibility and the scientist from a philosophical perspective. This is a (relatively) neglected topic, as philosophers have tended to focus on moral responsibility. Nevertheless, it is important, and timely. Design/methodology/approach Analytical, based on the author’s p...

Weapons research seeks to design new or improved weapons and their ancillary structures. It is argued here that weapons research is both morally wrong and morally unjustified. This 'case against weapons research' requires lengthy discussion and the argument given here is a summary of that discussion. The central claim is that the 'standard justific...

This chapter is concerned primarily with the educational roles and academic contributions of programs in history and philosophy of science (hereafter HPS) in Australasia. It focuses mainly on those that are most relevant to the overall project of writing a history of philosophy in Australasia. The philosophy of science has always been an important...

The last three chapters have provided examples of WR and its products, and as such have drawn on historical sources. This was not, of course, an end in itself and my intention was to show how circumstances surrounding and giving rise to those episodes of WR, what I have loosely called the ‘context of discovery’, was almost always very different fro...

One of the first projectile weapons was the sling; there is evidence of slings dating from about 10,000 BCE. The sling is a very basic weapon, consisting of a piece of cloth or hide to which two unequal strings are attached. A small shot is placed in the sling, which is then whirled about the head and one of the strings released in the direction of...

We have dated the beginnings of WR to the fourth century BCE; and at that time there was also an armaments industry, the organised systematic production of weapons as an element of economic activity. In fact, once we know when WR emerged we can infer that the arms industry must also have been in existence at that time, because there could be no poi...

I will assume that the realist account of war and of why states go to war, and why and for what ends states conduct WR, is correct. I have argued that if S undertakes WR on behalf of a state, she must assume it will pursue its own interests in accordance with realism, and hence she should therefore expect that the products of her work will be used...

The weapons to be discussed in this chapter differ in several important respects from those of the previous two chapters. First of all, and most obviously, nuclear weapons are far more destructive than small arms or catapults – any comparison with the latter in particular seems ridiculous. Nuclear weapons are by far the most destructive weapons eve...

Any justification of WWR will have to do with the war that frames context for the episode of WR at issue. The war itself will most likely not be the whole question, but it will be at least part of the question. Thus an important part of any justification of WWR will be the justification of the war in which the episode takes place – this much is cle...

I now turn to the second avenue, the second of the two mutually exclusive possibilities, for responding the charge that weapons research is a morally compromised activity, one that appeals to the actual historical circumstances – the contexts – in which the work is done. We have seen that weapons research has a history stretching back over two mill...

That knowledge is power is a platitude, and it is a false one at that because not all knowledge is, or leads to, power. But some knowledge is, or represents, power in the crudest form, power to do violence to others. This includes knowledge of how to make weapons, how to make the means to do violence, the means to make war and commit other violent...

The best-known example of weapons research and development (WRD) is the Manhattan Project, which produced the first three nuclear weapons and the only ones to have been used in wartime (see Nuclear Weapons). This project made use of discoveries in nuclear physics which were recent at the time, as well as other scientific theories and state-of-the-a...

I now claim to have established that weapons research is morally wrong. So it is not something that an impartial moral person can engage in without reflection, reflection which should lead to some appropriate response. The reason for this, as we have seen at some length, is that WR provides the means to harm and that harming is morally wrong. But w...

It is a truism that the side with the better weapons will win a battle and a war, all other things being equal. And it is probably true that the side whose ordinary soldiers, the infantry, have better weapons will win, though heavy weapons can be decisive (as they were at Syracuse and at Sedan 2,000 years later). In this chapter I will consider thr...

In the previous chapter principle P1 was formulated : “Whenever C is fighting a just war, then it is morally permissible for S to engage in WWR to support C”. This principle can be used to construct justifications of S’s participation in WWR on behalf of C, who (we assume) is fighting a just war. However, the idea of a just war needs clarification...

Chapter 1 Weapons, Weapons Research and the Case Against Weapons Research.- Chapter 2 The Development of Projectile Weapons: Ancient Catapults.- Chapter 3 The Development of Projectile Weapons 2: Firearms.- Chapter 4 The Development of Nuclear Weapons.- Chapter 5 The Moral Dimension of Weapons Research.- Chapter 6 How to Make The Case Against Weapo...

While there has been much interest in this topic, no generally accepted definition of dual use has been forthcoming. As a contribution to this issue, it is maintained that three related kinds of things comprise the category of dual use: research, technologies and artefacts. In regard to all three kinds, difficulties are identified in making clear d...

Just wars are supposed to be proportional responses to aggression: the costs of war must not greatly exceed the benefits. This proportionality principle raises a corresponding 'interpretation problem': what are the costs and benefits of war, how are they to be determined, and a 'measurement problem': how are costs and benefits to be balanced? And i...

I ask whether weapons research is ever justified. Weapons research is identified as the business of the engineer. It is argued that the engineer has responsibility for the uses to which the tools that he designs can be put, and that responsibility extends to the use of weapons. It is maintained that there are no inherently defensive weapons, and he...

1. Introduction: Realism and Definiteness Quantum physics represents a formidable obstacle for both the student and the teacher of science. Physics in general is not easy for everyone by any means, but at least classical physics, and perhaps also relativistic physics, does not pose the special barriers to the understanding that become evident when...

This paper examines the proposals made in the Canberra Commission for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The Report is quickly summarised and the major arguments for the abolition of nuclear weapons are then examined in the following way. A classification, or “typology”, of reasons why nuclear weapons should be abolished is given, and then the main...

Yes Yes

This paper is about structuralism as a form of reconstructing theories, associated with the work Sneed, Balzar and Moulines among others, and not about "structuralism" is any of its other manifold senses. The paper is a reflection in that it looks back on some earlier work of my own on the subject of structuralism and explanation, in which I argued...

This is a challenging book and it addresses important questions. This review has focused on what I think is the most important question of all: just what is the relationship between the ‘strategies’ which drive modern science and the social values which guide the societies we live in. I have much sympathy with the way in which Lacey tries to answer...

An essay review of Sokal and Bricmont's "Intellectual Impostures" defending Bergson and Deleuze from the author's claims they distort science, asserting Deleuze's treatment of calculus if more informed that the authors claim.

The question whether a scientist can be responsible for an outcome of her work which she does not foresee, and so is ignorant of, is addressed. It is argued that ignorance can be a ground for the attribution of responsibility, on condition that there are general principles, rules or norms, that the subject should be aware of. It is maintained that...

Yes Yes

I will assume here that there are such things as laws of nature and quantities in the world. Some of the former certainly seem to be relations between the latter. The gas laws, some of the other laws of thermodynamics, Ohms law, perhaps some dynamical and electrodynamic principles, all appear to state relations between quantities.1 For example, pre...

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the human, social and economic aspects of science and technology. It examines a broad range of issues from a variety of perspectives, using examples and experiences from Australia and around the world. The authors present complex issues in an accessible and engaging form. Topics include the respons...

This book provides a comprehensive introduction to the human, social and economic aspects of science and technology. It examines a broad range of issues from a variety of perspectives, using examples and experiences from around the world. The authors present complex issues, including the responsibilities of scientists, ethical dilemmas and controve...

Conclusion I think it is clear that Bqm and Oqm are quite different theories, even if they have the same empirical consequences. This is, of course, to adopt something like the realist perspective. Oqm is not normally interpreted realistically by physicists (the survey still has not been done!) but it can be, and what it says things are like is by...

This paper argues that there are good reasons to adopt a non‐reductive account of states when it comes to quantum mechanics. That is to say, it is argued that there are advantages to thinking about states as sui generis, as reducible to classes of values of quantities, when it comes to the quantum domain. One reason for holding this view is that it...

The topic to be discussed here, laws in quantum mechanics (QM), is important to me because of the particular account of explanation which I subscribe to. I have called this account the instance view (Forge 1986a). It can be summarised as follows: Something is explained when it is shown to be part of, i.e., an instance of, some suitable pattern in t...

Without Abstract

By using the concept of a uniformity, the Structuralists have given us a most useful means of representing approximations. In the second section of this paper, I have made use of this technique to show how we can deal with errors of measurement — imprecise explananda — in the context of theoretical explanation. As well as (I hope) providing further...

A statement of the account of quantities to be discussed and defended in this essay can be found in the second chapter of Brian Ellis’ book Basic Concepts of Measurement (Ellis 1966). I refer to this account as “Ellis’ theory of quantities”, although I should say at the outset that Ellis himself does not fully and unequivocally embrace the account....

In his new book What is a Law of Nature? , David Armstrong gives an account of functional laws on the basis of the theory, originally proposed independently by Armstrong himself, Dretske, and Tooley, and further developed in this work, which asserts that laws are relations of necessitation between properties. On the theory, properties and relations...

The purpose of this paper is to give an exposition and defence of an account of scientific explanation which I shall call the instance view. A brief statement of this view is the following: something (a phenomenon, state of affairs, event, etc,) has an instance explanation if and only if it is an instance of a law or theory; we give an instance exp...

An account of physical explanation derived from the instance view of scientific explanation is outlined, and it is shown that this account does not cover explanations by theories which contain theoretical functions. An alternative account, also derived from the instance view, is proposed on the basis of Sneed's account of theories. It is shown that...

Glymour's account of confirmation is seen to have paradoxical consequences when applied to the confirmation of theories containing theoretical functions. An alternative conception of instances derived from Sneed's reconstruction of physical theories is conjoined with the instance view of confirmation to produce an account of confirmation that avoid...

The aim of this paper is to give an account of theoreticity which captures the preanalytic conception of a theoretical function, which is precise and yet which expresses what is significant about theoretical functions. The point of departure for this account is a recent discussion of the topic by Balzer and Moulines. On the basis of criticism of th...

A significant feature of Hempel’s writings on scientific explanation, and one which is shared by many who adopt his views as a point of departure, is the lack of examples from modern science. The example which receives most attention in Hempel’s long essay on explanation ([1965b], pp. 335–338) concerns the expansion of soap bubbles around tumblers...

Some features of physical science relevant for a discussion of physical explanation are mentioned. The D-N account of physical explanation is discussed, and it is seen to restrict the scope of explanation in physical science because it imposes the requirement that the explanandum must be deducible from the explanans. Analysis shows that an alternat...