Objective description in physics
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Article in proceedings › Research › peer-review
Documents
- Objective Description in Physics
Accepted author manuscript, 260 KB, PDF document
I argue against the claim -- advocated by Albert Einstein, Bernard Williams, and Ted Sider, among others -- that a description is objective only if it says how the world is in itself. Instead, I argue for the claim -- inspired by comments of Niels Bohr -- that a family of descriptions is objective only if they co-vary with their respective descriptive contexts. Moreover, I claim that "there is a shared objective reality" simply means that it is possible to satisfy this kind of covariance requirement.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science and Technology : Bridging Across Academic Cultures: Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Congress in Prague |
Editors | Tomáš Marvan, Hanne Andersen, Hasok Chang, Benedikt Löwe, Ivo Pezlar |
Publisher | College Publications |
Publication date | 2022 |
Pages | 111-132 |
ISBN (Print) | 978-1-84890-368-5 |
Publication status | Published - 2022 |
Externally published | Yes |
Links
- http://www.collegepublications.co.uk/downloads/lmps00017.pdf
Final published version
ID: 336466817