Emergence and the Final Theory, or: How to Make Scientific Progress Sustainable
Convergent scientific realism entails that science will sooner or later arrive at the final theory of the fundamental constituents of matter. At that stage, all fundamental truths about nature will be discovered so that the search for basic principle seems bound to come to a halt. I explore options...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | deu |
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Universidad Complutense de Madrid
2003-01-01
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| Series: | Revista de Filosofia |
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| Online Access: | http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/RESF/article/view/10576 |
| Summary: | Convergent scientific realism entails that science will sooner or later arrive at the final theory of the fundamental constituents of matter. At that stage, all fundamental truths about nature will be discovered so that the search for basic principle seems bound to come to a halt. I explore options for a non-convergent scientific realism that allows for sustained progress in basic research. I defend the views that the coherence of non-convergent realism requires an emergence claim and that this claim can be supported. I develop the example of the relation between equivalence classes among biological functions and their physiological realizations. Given strongly emergent laws in the sense elaborated in the paper, progress in basic research may survive the discovery of the laws governing the tinymost parts of matter. |
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| ISSN: | 0034-8244 1988-284X |