Diagnosing disagreements: The authentication of the positron 1931–1934

Creţu, Ana-Maria

doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2019.10.001

Cited by 4 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In each case, there is an unobservable, unmanipulable phenomenon that can be experimentally quantified to a large degree independently of the relevant theoretical interpretation regarding their nature. For an extensive discussion of the question of the ‘authentication’ of empirical phenomena, and theoretical perspectives on the nature of such phenomena in the context of the history of particle physics, see [35].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the limits of experimental knowledge

Evans

Thébault

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

To demarcate the limits of experimental knowledge, we probe the limits of what might be called an experiment. By appeal to examples of scientific practice from astrophysics and analogue gravity, we demonstrate that the reliability of knowledge regarding certain phenomena gained from an experiment is not circumscribed by the manipulability or accessibility of the target phenomena. Rather, the limits of experimental knowledge are set by the extent to which strategies for what we call ‘inductive triangulation’ are available: that is, the validation of the mode of inductive reasoning involved in the source-target inference via appeal to one or more distinct and independent modes of inductive reasoning. When such strategies are able to partially mitigate reasonable doubt, we can take a theory regarding the phenomena to be well supported by experiment. When such strategies are able to fully mitigate reasonable doubt, we can take a theory regarding the phenomena to be established by experiment. There are good reasons to expect the next generation of analogue experiments to provide genuine knowledge of unmanipulable and inaccessible phenomena such that the relevant theories can be understood as well supported. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The next generation of analogue gravity experiments’.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

On the limits of experimental knowledge

Evans

Thébault

2020

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For a sustained defence of perspectivism, see Massimi (2012Massimi ( , 2018aMassimi ( , 2018bMassimi ( , 2018cMassimi ( , 2018d. 5 Broad perspectives are discussed by Massimi (2018c) and narrow perspectives are discussed, in different ways, by Massimi (2012) and Creţu (2020a). The current article builds on and extends these earlier analyses in a systematic way and applies them in a new context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Perspectival Instruments

Creţu

2022

Philos. sci.

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Despite its potential implications for the objectivity of scientific knowledge, the claim that ‘scientific instruments are perspectival’ has received little critical attention. I show that this claim is best understood as highlighting the dependence of instruments on different perspectives. When closely analysed, instead of constituting a novel epistemic challenge, this dependence can be exploited to mount novel strategies for resolving two old epistemic problems: conceptual relativism and theory ladeness. The novel content of this paper consists in articulating and developing these strategies by introducing two fine-grained notions of perspectives as the key units of analysis: ‘broad perspectives’ and ‘narrow perspectives’

show abstract

“…12 In the case of more advanced research traditions, such as The Standard Model, complex assumptions enter the authentication process and perspectives can become involved in the process too. Note, however, that even in such cases a distinct conceptual role is played by those perspectives that enter into the authentication 9 See Creţu (2020) for the authentication of the positron and attending disagreements. 10 For more examples of allegedly incontrovertible empirical facts which turned out not to be authentic phenomena, see Bondi (1955).…”

Section: Authenticationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The neutrino was predicted in 1930 as an essentially massless particle to resolve particular anomalies in β − decay, it was first detected in 1956, decades later was found to have mass, and its status is still not fully resolved [see Brown (1978), Kajita (2015), Hernandez (2016), andRayner (2020) for details]. 14 Another example concerns the classification of the positron which involved a drawn out process of authentication prior to further investigations into its nature (Creţu 2020;Roqué 1997;Darrigol 1988;Hanson 1961Hanson , 1962.…”

Section: Authenticationmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Authentication, scale-relativity, and relational kindhood

Creţu

2022

Synthese

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This paper proposes a new natural kinds framework according to which kindhood is relational, dynamic, and scale-relative. Reflecting on the ontogenesis of a scientific classification, I argue that there are two distinct conceptual stages to a scientific classification: a first stage in which enough entities and relations must be authenticated for kindhood to emerge and a second in which the nature of authenticated entities and relations is investigated. The new framework is scale-relative and explains both the changing nature of the entities and relations themselves as well as the changing nature of the classifications in which they are organised.

show abstract

Diagnosing disagreements: The authentication of the positron 1931–1934

Cited by 4 publications

References 34 publications

On the limits of experimental knowledge

On the limits of experimental knowledge

Perspectival Instruments

Authentication, scale-relativity, and relational kindhood

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About