A precipice below which lies absurdity? Theories without a spacetime and scientific understanding.
While the relation between visualization and scientific understanding has been a topic of long-standing discussion, recent developments in physics have pushed the boundaries of this debate to new and still unexplored realms. For it is claimed that, in certain theories of quantum gravity, spacetime '...
| Publicado en: | Synthese Vol. 197; no. 7; pp. 3121 - 3150 |
|---|---|
| Autores principales: | , |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
Springer Nature
Jul2020
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=144546354&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 144546354 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00397857 4LI jtl: Synthese issn: 00397857 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2020 vid: 197 iid: 7 pid: 237 pub: Springer Nature artinfo: ui: 144546354 10.1007/s11229-018-1874-9 ppf: 3121 ppct: 29 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: P size: 380KB tig: atl: A precipice below which lies absurdity? Theories without a spacetime and scientific understanding. aug: au: De Haro, Sebastian de Regt, Henk W. affil: Trinity College, CB2 1TQ, Cambridge, UK Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK Vossius Center for History of Humanities and Sciences, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands su: Scientific visualization Quantum theory Spacetime Comprehension Quantum gravity sug: subj: Scientific visualization Quantum theory Spacetime Comprehension Quantum gravity keyword: Emergence of spacetime Intelligibility of theories Scientific understanding ab: While the relation between visualization and scientific understanding has been a topic of long-standing discussion, recent developments in physics have pushed the boundaries of this debate to new and still unexplored realms. For it is claimed that, in certain theories of quantum gravity, spacetime 'disappears': and this suggests that one may have sensible physical theories in which spacetime is completely absent. This makes the philosophical question whether such theories are intelligible, even more pressing. And if such theories are intelligible, the question then is how they manage to do so. In this paper, we adapt the contextual theory of scientific understanding, developed by one of us, to fit the novel challenges posed by physical theories without spacetime. We construe understanding as a matter of skill rather than just knowledge. The appeal is thus to understanding, rather than explanation, because we will be concerned with the tools that scientists have at their disposal for understanding these theories. Our central thesis is that such physical theories can provide scientific understanding, and that such understanding does not require spacetimes of any sort. Our argument consists of four consecutive steps: (a) We argue, from the general theory of scientific understanding, that although visualization is an oft-used tool for understanding, it is not a necessary condition for it; (b) we criticise certain metaphysical preconceptions which can stand in the way of recognising how intelligibility without spacetime can be had; (c) we catalogue tools for rendering theories without a spacetime intelligible; and (d) we give examples of cases in which understanding is attained without a spacetime, and explain what kind of understanding these examples provide. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Synthese is a copyright of Springer, 2020. All Rights Reserved. item: Synthese holder: Springer Nature dt: @attributes: year: 2020 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|