Butterfield, Jeremy (2012) On Under-determination in Cosmology. [Preprint]
 | There is a more recent version of this item available. |
![[img]](https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png)
|
PDF
UnderCosmSubmPostToPitt.pdf - Submitted Version Download (213kB) |
Abstract
I discuss how modern cosmology illustrates under-determination of theoretical hypotheses by data, in ways that are different from most philosophical discussions. I emphasize cosmology's concern with what data could in principle be collected by a single observer (Section 2); and I give a broadly sceptical discussion of cosmology’s appeal to the cosmological principle as a way of breaking the under-determination (Section 3).
I confine most of the discussion to the history of the observable universe from about one second after the Big Bang, as described by the mainstream cosmological model: in effect, what cosmologists in the early 1970s dubbed the ‘standard model’, as elaborated since then. But in the closing Section 4, I broach some questions about times earlier than one second.
| Export/Citation: | EndNote | BibTeX | Dublin Core | ASCII/Text Citation (Chicago) | HTML Citation | OpenURL |
| Social Networking: |
| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Creators: |
|
||||||
| Additional Information: | Submitted to Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, on 2 February 2012. | ||||||
| Keywords: | under-determination, the standard model of cosmology, observationally indistinguishable spacetimes, the cosmological principle, the flatness problem, the horizon problem | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Confirmation/Induction Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism |
||||||
| Depositing User: | Jeremy Butterfield | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 10 Jun 2012 12:52 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 06 Jul 2013 15:37 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 9157 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Confirmation/Induction Specific Sciences > Physics > Cosmology Specific Sciences > Physics General Issues > Realism/Anti-realism |
||||||
| Date: | February 2012 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/9157 |
Available Versions of this Item
- On Under-determination in Cosmology. (deposited 10 Jun 2012 12:52) [Currently Displayed]
Monthly Views for the past 3 years
Monthly Downloads for the past 3 years
Plum Analytics
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
![[feed]](http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/style/images/feed-icon-32x32.png){kind=icon}