Issues in the Metaphysics of Science - Bookforum Omnivore

From Bookforum's Omnivore blog, a collection recent links examining the metaphysics of science, from the meaning of a "second," to whether or not science is beautiful or must be elegant, to reality as a mathematical structure.


Issues in the metaphysics of science

26 2013 

10:00AM

• From Studia Philosophica Estonica, a special issue on practical realist account of science. 
• It may have been awhile since you wondered, what exactly is a second? But think about it now and the question will nag at you. 
• Are there parallel universes? The answer is "possibly". 
• Stephen Mumford is cool, calm and collected as he broods on the big issues in the metaphysics of science. Is scientific truth always beautiful? 
• David Orrell says the quest for elegance leads too many researchers astray. 
• According to Max Tegmark, it’s not enough to say that math governs our universe; rather, he believes that reality itself is a mathematical structure. 
• Philosophy under attack: Patrick Stokes on Lawrence Krauss and the new denialism. 
• An “embarrassment” to science: Brad Plumer on a simple breakdown of why physicists still can't agree on how to interpret quantum mechanics — and why it matters. 
• What is the purpose of the Universe? Here is one possible answer.