Invariance and Objectivity

Foundations of Physics 40 (9-10):1651-1667 (2010)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Scientific knowledge should not only be true, it should be as objective as possible. It should refer to a reality independent of any subject. What can we use as a criterion of objectivity? Intersubjectivity (i.e., intersubjective understandability and intersubjective testability) is necessary, but not sufficient. Other criteria are: independence of reference system, independence of method, non-conventionality. Is there some common trait? Yes, there is: invariance under some specified transformations. Thus, we say: A proposition is objective only if its truth is invariant against a change in the conditions under which it was formulated. We give illustrations from geometry, perception, neurobiology, relativity theory, and quantum theory. Such an objectivist position has many advantages

Links

PhilArchive



    Upload a copy of this work     Papers currently archived: 90,616

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

The Objectivity of Values: Invariance without Explanation.Aaron James - 2006 - Southern Journal of Philosophy 44 (4):581-605.
On objectivity.Felix Mühlhölzer - 1988 - Erkenntnis 28 (2):185 - 230.
On objectivity.Felix M.�Hlh�Lzer - 1988 - Erkenntnis 28 (2):185-230.
BEYOND MODES OF OBJECTIVITY.Robert Albin - 2012 - Logos and Episteme (3):361-371.
Objectivity.Lorraine Daston - 2007 - Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Edited by Peter Galison.
Factorization, Algebraization, and Shape Invariance.A. Inomata & O. Kizilkaya - 1998 - Foundations of Physics 28 (1):107-124.
Moral Realism as a Moral Doctrine. [REVIEW]Daniel Friedrich - 2010 - Australasian Journal of Philosophy 88 (4):759-760.
Concept Formation and Scientific Objectivity: Weyl’s Turn against Husserl.Iulian D. Toader - 2013 - Hopos: The Journal of the International Society for the History of Philosophy of Science 3 (2):281-305.
Invariance and objectivity.Robert Nozick - 1998 - Proceedings and Adresses of the Apa 72 (2):21-48.
Objectivity: a very short introduction.Stephen Gaukroger - 2012 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Objectivity, relativism, and truth.Richard Rorty - 1991 - New York: Cambridge University Press.

Analytics

Added to PP
2013-11-22

Downloads
48 (#293,064)

6 months
3 (#445,838)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

References found in this work

Objectivity.Lorraine Daston & Peter Galison - 2007 - Cambridge, Mass.: Zone Books. Edited by Peter Galison.
Philosophy of Mathematics and Natural Science.Hermann Weyl - 1949 - Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press. Edited by Olaf Helmer-Hirschberg & Frank Wilczek.
Objectivity.Lorraine Daston - 2007 - Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press. Edited by Peter Galison.
Relativity: the general theory.John Lighton Synge (ed.) - 1960 - New York,: Interscience Publishers.

View all 12 references / Add more references