Cosmology and convention

DOI10.1016/J.SHPSB.2016.12.002MaRDI QIDQ515373zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors David Merritt

Publication date 13 March 2017

Published in Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. Part B. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Copyright license Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1703.02389

zbMATH Keywords

astrophysicscosmologyfalsificationLakatosPopper

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Physics (00A79) Unified quantum theories (81V22) Relativistic cosmology (83F05) Astrophysical cosmology (85A40)

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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Cited in

(10)

• Three problems about multi-scale modelling in cosmology
• Proposal for a degree of scientificity in cosmology
• Non-standard models and the sociology of cosmology
• Cosmology and a living cell
• Cosmic convergence
• Galaxy rotation curve in hyperconical universes: a natural relativistic MOND
• Feyerabend's rule and dark matter
• Life, the multiverse, and fine-tuning. Fact, fiction, and misconceptions
• MOND vs. dark matter in light of historical parallels
• Some reflections on the structure of cosmological knowledge

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