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Full-Text Articles in Philosophy
Non-Empirical Modelling And Theorizing: Scientific Progress In Particle Physics, Cristin Cain Chall
Non-Empirical Modelling And Theorizing: Scientific Progress In Particle Physics, Cristin Cain Chall
Theses and Dissertations
Particle physics (and other fundamental physics research, including searches for a theory of quantum gravity) faces a problem when it comes to acquiring experimental evidence. Many theories and models make predictions that cannot be tested with current, or even prospective technology. Yet these fields continue to develop, with new models and theories regularly being introduced, scrutinized, changed, and discarded. My project aims at examining the way theories and models are constructed, adapted, and assessed in fields that lack the empirical evidence that usually grounds such tasks. I will focus on two prominent examples: string theory and attempts to explain electroweak …
Maximally Contiguous Simples, Steven Canet
Maximally Contiguous Simples, Steven Canet
Theses and Dissertations
Much of the recent work done in mereology has been focused on answers to Ned Markosian’s Simple Question: What are the necessary and jointly sufficient conditions for an object’s being a simple i.e. a thing with no parts? In this paper, I analyze Markosian’s own answer, The Maximally Continuous View (MaxCon), and highlight a few of the strongest objections against that answer. I then argue that the objections only arise because Markosian assumes problematic conceptions of spacetime and matter. After updating each assumption with our best physics, I arrive at my own view, which I call the Maximally Contiguous View …
Nominalization And Interpretation: A Critique Of Global Nominalization Criteria, Jason Alen Dewitt
Nominalization And Interpretation: A Critique Of Global Nominalization Criteria, Jason Alen Dewitt
Theses and Dissertations
Nominalization is the process which removes abstract objects from our scientific theories. But what makes a proposed nominalization a good or successful one? In the paper “Is It Possible to Nominalize Quantum Mechanics,” Otávio Bueno develops criteria for any successful nominalization. In the present work, I discuss one of these criteria that I call the “interpretation criterion.” It claims that a nominalization of a scientific theory should be neutral with regards to the interpretations of that theory. I argue that the interpretation criterion is problematic, and that it should be replaced with an alternative criterion of nominalization. I first explicate …