Richard Dawid (University of Stocholm): String theory and Non-Empirical Confirmation
Tenured associate professor Richard Dawid is visiting the Science Studies Colloquium Series. Dawid is professor of philosophy of science at Stockholm University. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Vienna. After some years as a phyisicist at the TU Munich and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, he switched to philosophy in 2000. He worked as a philosopher of science at the University of Vienna and the MCMP Munich before coming to Stockholm in 2016.
Time and place: – ,
Georg Morgenstiernes hus: Seminarrom 152
Dawid’s work focuses on philosophical aspects of contemporary theories in high energy physics and cosmology. His concept of non-empirical theory confirmation, developed in the book String theory and the scientific method (CUP 2013) and in a number of articles, introduces a broader perspective on theory confirmation in fundamental physics and beyond. Other topics in the philosophy of physics investigated by Dawid include Everettian quantum mechanics, issues of data analysis in high energy physics, the philosophical impact of string dualities, the cosmological multiverse and anthropic reasoning. Currently, Dawid is leading a VR-funded research project on the philosophy of cosmology. In the general philosophy of science, Dawid works on Bayesian confirmation theory, novel confirmation and various aspects of the scientific realism debate.
Richard Dawid is the author of the book: String Theory and the Scientific Method, Cambridge University Press 2013.
String theory and Non-Empirical Confirmation
For the last thirty years, string theory has played a highly influential role in fundamental physics without having found empirical confirmation.The presentation will analyse reasons for the high degree of trust many physicists have developed in a theory that, according to classical standards of theory assessment, would have to be called an unconfirmed speculation. It will be argued that the cases of string theory and some other theories in contemporary fundamental physics suggest an extension of the concept of theory confirmation that allows for confirmation by observations that are not predicted by the theory in question (to be called "non-empirical confirmation"). The relevance of non-empirical confirmation reaches far beyond the context of fundamental physics and may throw new light on a number of core debates in the philosophy of science.
PublishedJuly 20, 2017 10:50 AM - Last modifiedMar. 15, 2018 1:31 PM
