Apr 17, 2023
Historical Materialism & Science or the Finiteness of our Scientific Models/Theories
- 14:30 to 16:30
- Seminar
- Max Planck Research Group (Final Theory Program)
- Joost Kircz
Humanity is obsessed with the hope for a final cause, a framework in which everything fits nicely together: A deity or the final Ding an Sich. Unfortunately if we, as humans, reach such a situation, it would be the end of everything: we are done. The opposite is the reality, the more we experience, measure, and know, the larger will be the unknown, which pictorially is the area on the other side of the ever growing perimeter of human knowledge. As a result of socio-historical developments and advances in material production forces and production relations, we find ever novel phenomena from bio-magnetism to asymptotic freedom. Human labour is able to invent models that, when successful, suggest that we know (for the time being) what we are, where we are, and provide some sense of security. Even better, working models induce forecasting, but this might lead to tunnel vision. The talk will address the contingency of models and the fascination for formal logical reasoning. Indeed, the pinnacle is the calculus, a kind of shrink foil, a method to deal with complicated issues such as change. Isn't it time to transcend formal logic? The answer, my friend, is still blowin’ in the wind.
Contact and Registration
Link to the Zoom-Meeting: https://zoom.us/j/94690790127 Meeting-ID: 946 9079 0127 no registration required. For more information contact Kseniia Mohelsky officeblum@mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de
About This Series
The seminar series of the Research Group “Historical Epistemology of the Final Theory Program” runs once a month, usually on a Monday at 14:00 in the seminar room of the Villa (Harnackstraße 5). The talks deal primarily with the history, philosophy, and foundations of modern (post-WWII) physics or with wider epistemological questions related to the work of the group. There are no pre-circulated papers.