Convergence strategies for theory assessment
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10798294 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elena Castellani (0000-0001-5314-0179) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 104 |
| Pages | 78-87 |
| Publication date | 2024-04-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0039-3681 • E-ISSN: 1879-2510 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.shpsa.2023.12.010 |
| PMID | 38484405 |
| OpenAlex | W4392777527 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 40 |
This paper addresses the issue of the import of convergence arguments in theory assessment. A first part is devoted to making the point of the different types of strategies based on convergence, providing new distinctions with respect to the existing literature. Specific attention is devoted to robustness vs consilience arguments and one representative example for each category is then discussed in some detail. These are: (a) Perrin's famous robustness argument on behalf of the atomic hypothesis on the grounds of the concordance of thirteen different procedures to the same result for the Avogadro number; (b) the consilience argument motivating the trust in the viability of the extra-dimension conjecture in the context of early string theory. These two cases are expressly chosen in order to highlight possible differences, also including whether the convergence obtains in terms of empirical or theoretical procedures. Notwithstanding these various differences, in both cases the evaluation of the assessment strategy similarly depends, in a significant way, on how the convergence argument is interpreted, as shown in the final part of the paper
Argument (complex analysis · Conjecture · Consilience · Construct (python library · Context (archaeology · Convergence (economics · Economics · Epistemology · Mathematical economics · Pure mathematics · Robustness (evolution · Symbolic convergence theory · Computability, Logic, AI Algorithms · Computer Science · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and History of Science · Quantum Mechanics and Applications
Unifying Scientific Theories
Some varieties of robustness
Non-empirical robustness arguments in quantum gravity
Drawing Philosophical Lessons from Perrin’s Experiments on Brownian Motion
Evidence amalgamation in the sciences
Unification beyond justification
Robustness and reality
String theory, Einstein, and the identity of physics
Evident atoms
Unification, explanation, and the composition of causes in Newtonian mechanics
The role of meta-empirical theory assessment in the acceptance of atomism
Model robustness as a confirmatory virtue
Computer models and the evidence of anthropogenic climate change
The appeal to robustness in measurement practice
When Climate Models Agree
Whewell's Consilience of Inductions–An Evaluation
Calibration, Coherence, and Consilience in Radiometric Measures of Geologic Time
Robustness Analysis
Evidential Diversity and the Triangulation of Phenomena
Robustness and Independent Evidence
On Robustness in Cosmological Simulations
Confirmation and Robustness of Climate Models
Inference to the More Robust Explanation
Robustness Analysis as Explanatory Reasoning
The Reality of Jean Perrin's Atoms and Molecules
Rock, Bone, and Ruin
The Value of Surprise in Science
| Highly cited | No |
|---|