Physics Needs Philosophy. Philosophy Needs Physics

Physics Needs Philosophy. Philosophy Needs Physics

  • May 21, 2018
Table of Contents

Physics Needs Philosophy. Philosophy Needs Physics

Contrary to claims about the irrelevance of philosophy for science, I argue that philosophy has had, and still has, far more influence on physics than is commonly assumed. I maintain that the current anti-philosophical ideology has had damaging effects on the fertility of science. I also suggest that recent important empirical results, such as the detection of the Higgs particle and gravitational waves, and the failure to detect supersymmetry where many expected to find it, question the validity of certain philosophical assumptions common among theoretical physicists, inviting us to engage in a clearer philosophical reflection on scientific method.

Source: pitt.edu

Share :
comments powered by Disqus

Related Posts

Can Many-Worlds Theory Rescue Us From Boltzmann Brains?

Can Many-Worlds Theory Rescue Us From Boltzmann Brains?

Can you trust the world to be consistent? Scientists don’t have much choice. They need to assume that objective observations of the universe can be trusted.

Read More
Lost in Math: Beauty != truth

Lost in Math: Beauty != truth

In Lost in Math, Hossenfelder delves briefly into the history of particle physics in order to explain the success of the Standard Model of particles and forces. She touches on why we’ve not had any unexplainable data from experimental particle physics for the last 50 years. She then takes us on a tour of the data that make us think we should be looking for physics that is not explained by the Standard Model—dark matter, dark energy, and cosmic inflation.

Read More