Merritt, David (2017) Cosmology and Convention. Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 57. pp. 41-52. ISSN 13552198
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Abstract
I argue that some important elements of the current cosmological model are 'conventionalist’ in the sense defined by Karl Popper. These elements include dark matter and dark energy; both are auxiliary hypotheses that were invoked in response to observations that falsified the standard model as it existed at the time. The use of conventionalist stratagems in response to unexpected observations implies that the field of cosmology is in a state of 'degenerating problemshift’ in the language of Imre Lakatos. I show that the 'concordance’ argument, often put forward by cosmologists in support of the current paradigm, is weaker than the convergence arguments that were made in the past in support of the atomic theory of matter or the quantization of energy.
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| Item Type: | Published Article or Volume | ||||||
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| Keywords: | cosmology dark matter dark energy Karl Popper Imre Lakatos falsification astrophysics | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Astrophysics General Issues > Conventionalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology |
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| Depositing User: | David Merritt | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 22 Nov 2022 15:25 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 22 Nov 2022 15:25 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 21457 | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Studies In History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies In History and Philosophy of Modern Physics | ||||||
| Publisher: | Elsevier | ||||||
| Official URL: | https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/... | ||||||
| DOI or Unique Handle: | 10.1016/j.shpsb.2016.12.002 | ||||||
| Subjects: | Specific Sciences > Physics > Astrophysics General Issues > Conventionalism Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology |
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| Date: | 1 February 2017 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 41-52 | ||||||
| Volume: | 57 | ||||||
| ISSN: | 13552198 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/21457 |
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