Abstract
The object of this article is to show a certain proximity of Duhem to Poincaré in his first philosophical reflections. I study the relationships between the scientific practices of the two scholars, the contemporary theoretical context and their reflections. The first part of the article concerns the changes in epistemological consensus at the turn of the century. The second part will be devoted to Poincaré's reflections on the status of physical geometries and physical theories, as they appear in his texts written around 1890. Then I analyze the first reflections of Pierre Duhem on physical theory, in particular his thesis of the hypothetical/symbolic character of physical theories and his criteria for selecting good theories, partly associated with his ideal of physical theory; the whole set of considerations, highlighting the Poincarean inspiration.
Highlights
In his text “Quelques réflexions au sujet des théories physiques” (1892) Pierre Duhem wrote: We are not alone in professing the ideas we have just set forth, and if there is an opinion which we are pleased to be able to invoke in support of ours, it is certainly that of the analyst who has written the following: “The mathematical theories are not intended to reveal to us the true nature of things; this would be an unreasonable claim
The theory represents an economy for the mind: "The theoretical science aims at relieving the memory and helping it to retain more the multitude of experimental laws" (Duhem 1892a, 140); it is intended to provide a systematic classification or representation of experimental laws, not pretending to provide "a metaphysical explanation of the material world" that would "contemplate the very structure of the world" (Duhem 1892a, 150, 158159)
Like Poincaré, Duhem recognizes the importance of the interactions between metaphysics and physics, a recurring subject of his historical work (Leite 2013)
Summary
Between the last years of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the 1910s, experimental access to the intimate structure of matter favored a consensus on the relevance of atomistic hypotheses of statistical mechanics. The course of the second semester of 1888-1889 is dedicated to theories of electrodynamics and to Maxwell's electromagnetic theory of light; after that, Poincaré will deal with the theory of Helmholtz and the experiments of Hertz He will continue with his method of comparisons, showing, for example, that Maxwell's theory is a special case of that of Helmholtz (Darrigol 1993, 215, 222; 1995, 5-8); he notes that comparisons (mathematical ones) must not make us forget the distinct physical senses attached to the theories: Hertz considers that the very substance of Maxwell's ideas lies in the equations he obtains, and that a theory may be regarded as equivalent to that of Maxwell, provided that it leads to the same. He recognizes the persistence of the Laplacian program, which contains an ontology of center-of-force atoms, the conception of an unobservable matter, "which have only purely geometric qualities and whose atoms are nothing but mathematical points subject to the laws of dynamics" (Poincaré, 1890, VI)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Transversal: International Journal for the Historiography of Science
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
