Talks by Milena Ivanova and Erik Curiel at MCMP (Apr. 22&23 )
Dardashti, Radin
Radin.Dardashti at lrz.uni-muenchen.de
Mon Apr 20 07:10:54 CEST 2015
Speaker: Milena Ivanova (MCMP)
Date: Wed., April 22
Location: Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, room 021
Time: 16:15 - 17:45
Title: Poincaré on Beauty in Science
Abstract:
This paper offers a systematic analysis of Poincaré’s understanding of
beauty in science. In particular, the paper examines the epistemic
significance Poincaré attributes to aesthetic judgments by
reconstructing his arguments on simplicity and unity in science. I offer
a consistent reconstruction of Poincaré’s account and show that while
Poincaré treats simplicity as a heuristic aid, which leads to more
unified theories, he takes unity to be a regulative ideal and the
ultimate goal of science which gives us understanding. In conclusion I
explore the link between aesthetic judgments and utility and how
Poincaré’s account on scientific aesthetics fits with his overall
epistemology
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Speaker: Erik Curiel (MCMP)
Date: Thu., April 23
Location: Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, room 021
Time: 12:15 - 13:45
Title: If Metrical Structure Were Not Dynamical, Counterfactuals in
General Relativity Would Be Easy (WIP Talk)
Abstract:
General relativity poses serious problems for counterfactual
propositions peculiar to it as a physical theory, problems that have
gone unremarked on in the physics and in the philosophy literature.
Because these problems arise solely from the dynamical nature of
spacetime geometry, they are shared by all schools of thought on how
counterfactuals should be interpreted and understood. Given the role of
counterfactuals in the characterization of, inter alia, many accounts of
scientific laws, theory-confirmation and causation, general relativity
once again presents us with idiosyncratic puzzles any attempt to analyze
and understand the nature of scientific knowledge must face.
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