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The epistemological significance of exploratory experimentation: A pragmatist model of how practices matter philosophically

Beauchemin, Pierre-Hugues and Staley, Kent (2024) The epistemological significance of exploratory experimentation: A pragmatist model of how practices matter philosophically. [Preprint]

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Abstract

Abstract: We employ a pragmatist model of inquiry to distinguish the epistemological character and significance of exploratory experimentation. Exploratory experimentation is not constituted by any intrinsic characteristics of an episode of experimentation but depends on the context and aims of the experiment and the ways in which these shape decisions about how the experimental inquiry is to be conducted: its tasks, resources, and aims, as well as the critical assessment of all of these. To demonstrate the usefulness of our pragmatist model, we apply it to the contrast between two kinds of searches for new physics at the Large Hadron Collider. Some searches are exploratory while others target specific Beyond Standard Model hypotheses, but this contrast can be understood only by considering the relations between these searches, their aims, and the way that these aims shape their respective experimental parameters and procedures. Our approach provides a model for establishing the epistemological significance of details of experimental practice.


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Item Type: Preprint
Creators:
CreatorsEmailORCID
Beauchemin, Pierre-HuguesHugo.Beauchemin@tufts.edu
Staley, Kentstaleykw@gmail.com0000-0002-7536-2087
Keywords: Exploratory experimentation; pragmatism; practices; inquiry; experimental physics
Subjects: General Issues > Evidence
General Issues > Experimentation
Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles
General Issues > Theory/Observation
Depositing User: Kent Staley
Date Deposited: 25 Sep 2024 11:39
Last Modified: 25 Sep 2024 11:39
Item ID: 23945
Subjects: General Issues > Evidence
General Issues > Experimentation
Specific Sciences > Physics > Fields and Particles
General Issues > Theory/Observation
Date: 24 September 2024
URI: https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/23945

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