MacKinnon, Edward (2002) The Language of Classical Physics. [Preprint]

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Abstract

ABSTRACT. The objectivity of physics has been called into question by social theorists, Kuhnian relativists, and by anomalous aspects of quantum mechanics. Here we focus on one neglected background issue, the categorical structure of the language of classical physics. The first half is an historical overview of the formation of the language of classical physics (LCP), beginning with Aristotle's Categories and the novel idea of the quantity of a quality introduced by medieval Aristotelians. Descartes and Newton at-tempted to put the new mechanics on an ontological foundation of atomism. Euler was the pivotal figure in basing mechanics on a macroscopic concept of matter. The second scientific revolution, led by Laplace, took mechanics as foundational and attempted to fit the Baconian sciences into a framework of atomistic mechanism. This protracted effort had the unintended effect of supplying an informal unification of physics in a mixture of ordinary language and mechanistic terms. The second half treats LCP as a linguistic para-site that can attach itself to any language and effect mutations in the host without chang-ing its essential form. This puts LCP in the context of a language of discourse and sug-gests that philosophers should concentrate more on the dialog between experimenters and theoreticians and less on analyses of theories. This orientation supplies a basis for treating objectivity.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID MacKinnon, Edward
Keywords:	Classical Physics, Analytic Philosophy, Copenhagen Interpretation, Conceptual Revolutions
Subjects:	General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies
Depositing User:	Edward MacKinnon
Date Deposited:	08 Apr 2002
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2010 15:10
Item ID:	606
Subjects:	General Issues > History of Philosophy of Science General Issues > History of Science Case Studies
Date:	April 2002
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/606

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