Abstract:
Many scientific theories in fundamental physics are faced with the problem that they lack empirical support. This has led to a stronger reliance on alternative methods that do not rely on experiments on the target system. Examples are thought experiments, simulations, analogue experiments and Dawid’s proposed non-empirical method of theory assessment. But how can non-experimental methods reliably assess scientific theories and what impact should this have on scientific practice? Can there still be scientific progress without experiments? I will argue that problem precisification as well as theory proliferation are necessary preconditions for a reliable non-experimental assessment of theories.
Speaker:
Radin Dardashti ist seit 2017 Juniorprofessor für Philosophie der Physik an der Bergischen Universität Wuppertal. Zuvor war er wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter am Institut für Philosophie der Leibniz-Universität Hannover und Junior-Fellow des Projektes „Space and Time after Quantum Gravity“ an der Université de Genève. Seine Promotion schloss er in Philosophie an der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München ab. Zuvor Studium der Wissenschaftstheorie (London) und der Physik (Aachen und London). Seine Forschungsinteressen sind u.a. die Theorienentwicklung und -beurteilung in der modernen Grundlagenphysik, die Rolle von Prinzipien in der Teilchenphysik und erkenntnistheoretische Fragen der wissenschaftlichen Praxis.
Recent and forthcoming publications:
- Why Trust a Theory? Epistemology of Fundamental Physics (edited with Richard Dawid and Karim Thebault), forthcoming March 2019 with Cambridge University Press.
- "Symmetry Breaking“ (with Elena Castellani), forthcoming in Knox, E. and A. Wilson (Eds.), Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Physics, London: Routledge.
- "Confirmation via Analogue Simulation - What Dumbholes Could Tell us About Gravity" (with Karim Thébault and Eric Winsberg). The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 68 (1), 55–89, 2017.