Understanding the various scientific theories in the history of science

IF 0.1 Q4 HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE
Jun-Young Oh
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Abstract

The aim of this research is to explore the philosophical position of various scientific theories based on the history and philosophy of science. This is because the philosophy of science, which has usually dealt mainly with epistemology and methodology, is extended to the concern of problems of ontology, that is, metaphysics. Determinism, which is rooted in the metaphysical belief that objective scientific knowledge exists independently of humankind’s perception, is comparable to a well-defined mechanism and can be described as “mathematization” of objective scientific knowledge—this is exemplified in the natural laws of dynamics established by Newton, Einstein, and Schrödinger. Conversely, if we move away from determinism, we need anthropomorphic concepts such as “possibility” and “contingency” to define the laws of nature. This paper investigates the shift from classical deterministic thought to the contingently perceived probabilistic theory, changes in scientific theories from a naturalistic viewpoint, and the convergence of theories achieved through this process. Since Darwin announced his theory of evolution, natural sciences have steadily undergone a shift from endeavoring to name, classify, and measure to emphasizing the transience of things, historical interest, and theorization. On the other hand, weak determinism states that things in the world are inevitable but also coincidental. Because there are coincidences, even if we know the current state of an object accurately, we cannot know its future state accurately; we can only know it probabilistically. It seems that things in the world occur through both necessity and coincidence and are not strictly determined. This kind of probabilistic weak determinism can be said to correspond to quantum theory and evolution theory.

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了解科学史上的各种科学理论
本研究的目的是在科学史和科学哲学的基础上探讨各种科学理论的哲学立场。这是因为,通常主要涉及认识论和方法论的科学哲学,已扩展到对本体论问题,即形而上学问题的关注。决定论植根于一种形而上学的信念,即客观科学知识独立于人类的感知而存在,它相当于一种定义明确的机制,可以说是客观科学知识的 "数学化"--牛顿、爱因斯坦和薛定谔建立的动力学自然定律就是例证。相反,如果我们摒弃决定论,就需要 "可能性 "和 "偶然性 "等拟人化概念来定义自然规律。本文研究了从经典的决定论思想到偶然感知的概率论的转变,从自然主义观点看科学理论的变化,以及通过这一过程实现的理论趋同。自达尔文提出进化论以来,自然科学经历了从努力命名、分类和测量到强调事物的短暂性、历史兴趣和理论化的转变。另一方面,弱决定论认为,世界上的事物既有必然性,也有偶然性。因为存在偶然性,所以即使我们准确地知道了物体的当前状态,也无法准确地知道它的未来状态,只能是概率性地知道。看来,世界上的事物的发生既有必然性,也有偶然性,并不是严格确定的。这种概率弱决定论可以说与量子论和进化论相对应。
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来源期刊
INDIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE
INDIAN JOURNAL OF HISTORY OF SCIENCE HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE-
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