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Physics, Mathematics And Philosophy A Menage A Trois


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1 Formerly of International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria
     

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Manage k Trois, however interesting and exciting it may seem, has serious drawbacks. It is rarely successful or satisfactory to all concerned. The three disciplines : physics, mathematics and philosophy — all including or based on logic — have their separate jurisdictions, aims and methods. While the first two are generally unequivocal and to a great extent uncontroversial in their utterances, philosophers may differ greatly among themselves when discussing the same subject, for instance, about the existence of physical and matheniatical entities (ontology) or the manner in which we come to know about the external world (epistemology), with nobody being proved right or wrong in the end. Not with standing this well known feature about the three enterprises, and the fact that cross-fertilization of ideas from different disciplines can be very fruitful, we should guard against pitfalls when treading border areas. A few examples of such pitfalls and resulting confusion are discussed in this article.

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  • Physics, Mathematics And Philosophy A Menage A Trois

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Authors

Saurabh Sanatani
Formerly of International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, Austria

Abstract


Manage k Trois, however interesting and exciting it may seem, has serious drawbacks. It is rarely successful or satisfactory to all concerned. The three disciplines : physics, mathematics and philosophy — all including or based on logic — have their separate jurisdictions, aims and methods. While the first two are generally unequivocal and to a great extent uncontroversial in their utterances, philosophers may differ greatly among themselves when discussing the same subject, for instance, about the existence of physical and matheniatical entities (ontology) or the manner in which we come to know about the external world (epistemology), with nobody being proved right or wrong in the end. Not with standing this well known feature about the three enterprises, and the fact that cross-fertilization of ideas from different disciplines can be very fruitful, we should guard against pitfalls when treading border areas. A few examples of such pitfalls and resulting confusion are discussed in this article.

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No Keywords

References