H2020Индивидуална стипендия2021–2023

SciRepMod · The Roles of Modalities in Scientific Representation

„Хоризонт 2020“ — Действия „Мария Склодовска-Кюри“

Период: 2021-09-01 → 2023-12-21
Финансиране от ЕС: 160 932 €
Участници: 1
Схема: MSCA-IF

Линиите свързват координатора с партньорите.

Накратко на български

Различните видове възможности и необходимости в науката, като вероятностите в квантовата механика, се анализират чрез тяхната роля в научните модели. Систематизирането им помага за по-точно разбиране на това какво всъщност ни казва науката за света.

Този кратък обзор е генериран от изкуствен интелект

Кратко обяснение, генерирано от езиков модел по текста на CORDIS. Оригиналът е по-долу.

Резултати накратко

The Roles of Modalities in Scientific Representation

A large spectrum of discourse in science is typically analysed in modal terms, that is, in terms of what is possible or necessary. This includes scientific explanations, physical laws and constraints, causation, counterfactual reasoning and probabilities. There is a large amount of literature on the metaphysics of natural necessity in science at a general level, with proposed analyses in terms of governing laws of nature, or dispositions, etc. However, necessity comes in many varieties and other kinds of modalities than natural necessity are involved in scientific discourse. This is certainly the case for epistemic modality, involved, for example, in assessing the credibility of a hypothesis, but it can also be the case for logical, conceptual or normative modalities. It is not always easy to identify which kind of modality is involved in a piece of scientific reasoning, and this difficulty is a source of debate not only among philosophers, but also among physicists, for example concerning the interpretation of probabilities in quantum mechanics. Arguably, the lack of a systematic way to disentangle various kinds of modalities is an obstacle to a finer understanding of what science tells us about the world. The aim of this project was to overcome this problem pragmatically, by connecting the topic of modalities with that of scientific representation. Debates on scientific representation concern the relationship between representational vehicles (e.g. models), their users and their targets. The project was to examine the representational status of various kinds of modalities and modal structures and their relationship: whether they are represented, or whether they play a role in the very act of representing, for example, in assessing the accuracy or credibility of a model. The purpose is to arrive at a means of distinguishing different kinds of modalities pragmatically, so as to provide tools for interpreting the modal aspect of scientific theories and scientific discourse more precisely.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз

Цел на проекта

Modal discourse (about what is possible or necessary) is ubiquitous in science but it is not always easy to identify which kind of necessity (epistemic, natural, conceptual, ...) is involved in a piece of scientific reasoning. This difficulty is a source of debate not only among philosophers, but also among physicists, for example concerning the interpretation of probabilities in quantum mechanics. The aim of the project is to circumvent this problem by examining the representational status of various kinds of modalities: whether they are represented, or whether they play a role in the act of representing, for example, in assessing the credibility of a model. The purpose is to arrive at a means of distinguishing different kinds of modalities pragmatically, so as to provide tools for interpreting the modal aspect of scientific theories and scientific discourse more precisely. The project will focus on a case-study: non-relativistic quantum mechanics, because it offers a rich modal structure (possible states, observables, outcomes, model-parameters) with divergent interpretations. It will consist in developing a plausible account of the representational status of various kinds of modalities, with help from the competence of the host institution on the topics of scientific representation and the philosophy of probabilities, and applying this account to the case study by examining how various modal structures constrain, license or warrant inferences based on quantum mechanical models. It will take into account different scientific aims and activities (explaining, predicting, developing technologies). The project could be useful to scientists, by helping them to have a clear view of the concepts involved when they employ modal discourse. It could inform the way scientific theories are to be interpreted, in particular quantum mechanics. Finally, it could inform debates on the nature of scientific representation and on the relations between various kinds of modalities.

Оригинален текст от CORDIS (на английски).

Участници

UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID · MadridКоординаторИспания