Revisiting the Scientific Nature of Multiverse Theories

Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 55 (1):137-151 (2023)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Some scientists or philosophers argue that multiverse theories are unfalsifiable and thus not scientific. However, some advocates of multiverse theories have recently argued that although the multiverse is not observable, multiverse theories are indeed falsifiable in principle. Therefore, they share similar features with a conventional scientific theory. On the other hand, the proposals of an epistemic shift and nonempirical theory assessment have possibly revived the discussions of the scientific nature of multiverse theories. In this article, I revisit the falsifiable arguments made by the advocates of multiverse theories and show that these arguments do not justify arguing the scientific nature of such theories. Moreover, even if we accept the proposals of the epistemic shift and the nonempirical theory assessment, I argue that multiverse theories still cannot pass or satisfy the required assessments based on the new theoretical virtues and the nonempirical arguments.

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 91,435

External links

Setup an account with your affiliations in order to access resources via your University's proxy server

Through your library

Similar books and articles

Data-Phenomena-Theories: What’s the Notion of a Scientific Phenomenon Good for?Jochen Apel, Monika Dullstein & Pawel Radchenko - 2009 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 40 (1):125-128.
Thinking Crossroads: from Scientific Pluralism to Pluralist History of Science.Matteo Vagelli, Laurent Loison & Ivan Moya-Diez - 2021 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 52 (1):87-95.
Motivating a Pragmatic Approach to Naturalized Social Ontology.Richard Lauer - 2022 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 53 (4):403–419.
Deep Learning Applied to Scientific Discovery: A Hot Interface with Philosophy of Science.Louis Vervoort, Henry Shevlin, Alexey A. Melnikov & Alexander Alodjants - 2023 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 54 (2):339-351.
Special section: Darwinism and scientific practice in historical perspective. [REVIEW]Ute Deichmann & Anthony S. Travis - 2010 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 41 (1):55-60.
Wissenschaft und wissenschaftstheorie.Walter Herzog - 1987 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 18 (1-2):134-164.
Nicholas Maxwell: In Praise of Natural Philosophy: A Revolution for Thought and Life.Harald Walach - 2019 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 50 (4):603-609.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. Zeitschriftenschau.Michael Anacker, Marc Breuer & Daniel Cohnitz - 2003 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 34 (1):165-199.
Nachträge und Ergänzungen zur Bibliographie der Schriften von Bela Juhos.[author unknown] - 1971 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 2 (2):338-339.
Verzeichnis der wissenschaftlichen Arbeiten des korrespondierenden Mitglieds der Akademie der Wissenschaft der UdSSR P. W. Kopnin.[author unknown] - 1972 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 3 (1):170-200.
Sociology as a science.David V. McQueen - 1981 - Zeitschrift Für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 12 (2):263-284.
Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker.Michael Drieschner - 2008 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 39 (1):1-16.
Erratum: Bibliographie der Schriften von Paul Lorenzen.[author unknown] - 1996 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 27 (2):421-422.
Nachträge zur Bibliographie der Schriften von Alwin Diemer.[author unknown] - 1989 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 20 (2):391-391.

Analytics

Added to PP
2023-05-06

Downloads
22 (#697,485)

6 months
11 (#227,278)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

The Logic of Scientific Discovery.Karl Popper - 1959 - Studia Logica 9:262-265.
The inference to the best explanation.Gilbert H. Harman - 1965 - Philosophical Review 74 (1):88-95.
Conjectures and Refutations.Karl Popper - 1963 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 19 (2):159-168.
Simplicity.Elliott Sober - 1975 - Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press.
Cosmology and convention.David Merritt - 2017 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 57:41-52.

View all 12 references / Add more references