The concept of intelligibility in modern physics (1948) |
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| Authors: | Paul K Feyerabend |
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| Institution: | Translated from German by Daniel Kuby and Eric Oberheim;The University of Texas at Dallas,Center for Values in Medicine Science, and Technology,United States of America;School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science,University of Leeds, Woodhouse ,United Kingdom;Unit for History and Philosophy of Science, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia;IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca, Italy;Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Technische Universität Berlin, Germany;Department of Philosophy, Durham University, 50 Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HN, UK;Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany;Tongji University, Department of Philosophy, 1239 Siping Road, 200092 Shanghai, PR China |
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| Abstract: | This is an English translation of Paul Feyerabend's earliest extant essay “Der Begriff der Verständlichkeit in der modernen Physik” (1948). In it, Feyerabend defends positivism as a progressive framework for scientific research in certain stages of scientific development. He argues that in physics visualizability (Anschaulichkeit) and intelligibility (Verständlichkeit) are time-conditioned concepts: what is deemed visualizable in the development of physical theories is relative to a specific historical context and changes over time. He concludes that from time to time the abandonment of visualizability is crucial for progress in physics, as it is conducive to major theory change, illustrating the point on the basis of advances in atomic theory. |
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| Keywords: | Paul Feyerabend Erwin Schrödinger Anschaulichkeit Visualizability Positivism |
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