Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Historical and Conceptual Background
- Part II Theory Assessment beyond Empirical Confirmation
- 6 The Significance of Non-Empirical Confirmation in Fundamental Physics
- 7 The Dangers of Non-Empirical Confirmation
- 8 No Alternative to Proliferation
- 9 Physics without Experiments?
- 10 Scientific Methodology: A View from Early String Theory
- 11 What Can We Learn from Analogue Experiments?
- 12 Are Black Holes about Information?
- Part III Cosmology and Testability
- Part IV Prospects for Confirmation in String Theory
- Index
8 - No Alternative to Proliferation
from Part II - Theory Assessment beyond Empirical Confirmation
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 06 March 2019
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- 1 Introduction
- Part I Historical and Conceptual Background
- Part II Theory Assessment beyond Empirical Confirmation
- 6 The Significance of Non-Empirical Confirmation in Fundamental Physics
- 7 The Dangers of Non-Empirical Confirmation
- 8 No Alternative to Proliferation
- 9 Physics without Experiments?
- 10 Scientific Methodology: A View from Early String Theory
- 11 What Can We Learn from Analogue Experiments?
- 12 Are Black Holes about Information?
- Part III Cosmology and Testability
- Part IV Prospects for Confirmation in String Theory
- Index
Summary
We reflect on the nature, role, and limits of non-empirical theory assessment in fundamental physics, focusing in particular on quantum gravity. We argue for the usefulness and, to some extent, necessity of non-empirical theory assessment, but also examine critically its dangers. We conclude that the principle of proliferation of theories is not only at the very root of theory assessment, but all the more necessary when experimental tests are scarce, and also that, in the same situation, it represents the only medicine against the degeneration of scientific research programs.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Why Trust a Theory?Epistemology of Fundamental Physics, pp. 125 - 153Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019