Philosophy of Science Colloquium, Semtember & October

Department of HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE Eötvös University, Budapest ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Pázmány P. sétány 1/A Budapest, Hungary Phone/Fax: (36-1) 372 2924 The web site of the seminar: http://hps.elte.hu/seminar Philosophy of Science Colloquium Room 6.54 (6th floor) Monday 4:00 PM P r o g r a m SEPTEMBER 30 September 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 (Language of presentation: English) Giora Hon <http://philo.haifa.ac.il/faculty_pages/hon.htm> Department of Philosophy University of Haifa Gödel, Einstein, Mach: Constraining Completeness of Physical Theory Can a theory turn back, as it were, upon itself and vouch for its own features? That is, can the derived elements of a theory be the very primitive terms that provide the presuppositions of the theory? This form of completeness assumes a totality in which there occurs quantification over that totality, quantification that is defined by this very totality. I argue that the Mach principle exhibits features of this notion of completeness. I propose an analogy between the Mach principle as a possible selection principle in general relativity and the vicious-circle principle in foundation of mathematics. I finally conclude with a consequence of this analogy vis-á-vis completeness, viz., completeness has to be constrained. Cosmological models set the scene for the view of completeness discussed in the paper. Specifically, the ideas encapsulated in what Einstein called the "Mach principle" constitute the thread of this account. The principle however is found to falter, in view of the fact that there are several different types of solution of the field equations that contradict it. One such important result with ramifying consequences is the rotational mass solution of Gödel. The question arises as to whether there is an analogy between incompleteness in foundation of mathematics and in physics? The analogy between the vicious-circle principle and the Mach principle demonstrates an affirmative answer which suggests in turn that completeness must be curtailed - that is, conditions and limits should be imposed on completeness to render it valid. ================================================================== OCTOBER 7 October 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 (Language of presentation: English) René Voltz Université Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg Platonism in modern physics Since Galileo, modern physics can be envisaged as progressing following a Platonic program: explore the world beyond sensory appearances, with ideas and theories based on the existence of unchanging physical laws that are expressible in mathematics. In the search of unified theories and the "dreams of a final theory", contemporary physics expresses more than ever the Platonic tendencies: it basically admits the reality of intelligible forms, representations of generalized symmetries, which convince via their "beauty"besides the necessary verifications of their empirical consequences. The importance of Platonic inspirations during the successive conceptual mutations which mark the History of physics was recognized by the most creative actors. Representative examples are discussed in the presentation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 14 October 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 (Language of presentation: Hungarian) Béla Lukács <mailto:lukacs@rmki.kfki.hu> Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics Hungarian Academy of Sciences RETROKAUZALITÁS Lélektudományok müvelöi közt hivei vannak azon álláspontnak, hogy idöben VISSZAFELÉ terjedö hatások léteznek (habár csak rövid idötartamra), söt, hogy ezeket statisztikailag ki is lehet mutatni (pl. pszichológiai mérésekkel). A természettudományoktól a gondolat általában idegen. Megmutatom azonban, hogy a retro folyamatok az általános relativitáselméletbe beleférnek. A "naiv" általános relativitáselméletben (+++-) szignatúra) az ilyen folyamatok kivételes helyek közelében lehetségesek, oksági paradoxonokra ill. a szabad akarat nemlétére vezetnek. Ezzel szemben BIZONYOS magasabb dimenziójú téridökben a retro folyamat általános, és oksági paradoxonokra ill. a szabad akarat nemlétére vezet. Hogy a jelenség van-e, az a lélektudományokra tartozik egyelöre. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 21 October 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 (Language: English, except all participants speak Hungarian) Tamás Rudas <mailto:rudas@tarki.hu> Department of Statistics, Institute of Sociology, Eötvös University, Budapest Measurement and modelling of association in contingency tables Association between two variables is defined in the talk as the information in their joint distribution not present in the univariate distributions. Therefore, a measure of association, together with the marginal distributions, has to parameterize the joint distribution and has to be variationally independent from the marginals. These requirements point to the odds ratio as the only appropriate measure of association. For higher dimensional contingency tables, a possible generalization is the system of conditional odds ratios. The conditional odds ratios, on an ascending class of subsets, are variationally independent from the marginal distributions on the complement descending class and together parameterize the joint distribution. Depending on the class of subsets used, one obtains a flexible class of parametereizations that can be used to model the conditional association structure. The models obtained by assuming lack of conditional association on an ascending class of subsets are of the log-linear type. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 28 October 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54 (Language: English) Douwe Draaisma <http://www.ppsw.rug.nl/%7Eteng/draaisma.html> Heymans Institute, Univerity of Groningen The tracks of thought: metaphors of memory There has always been an intimate link between human memory and the means invented to record knowledge independently of that memory. From Plato's wax tablet to holography and computers, artificial memories have supported, relieved and occasionally replaced natural memory. Over the centuries these artificial memories have also shaped our views of remembering and forgetting, providing the terms and concepts with which we have reflected on our own memory. After a general introduction on the theme of metaphor and memory, I will demonstrate my analysis by the case of 'panoramic memory', the experience sometimes reported by persons in sudden mortal danger of seeing a rapid sequence of visual scenes from their childhood 'flash before their eyes like a movie'. A brief history of metaphorical descriptions of this sensation from the period before the invention of film will make clear just how metaphors may lay down the tracks of our thoughts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Douwe Draaisma's book, METAFORAMASINA <http://www.typotex.hu/p_0027.html>, has been recently published in Hungarian translation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The 60-minute lecture is followed by a 10-minute break. Then we held a 30-60-minute discussion. The participants may comment the talks and initiate discussion on the Internet. The comments should be written in the language of the presentation. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The organizer of the seminar: László E. Szabó <http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo><mailto:leszabo@hps.elte.hu>) L a s z l o E. S z a b o Theoretical Physics Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences Department of History and Philosophy of Science Eotvos University, Budapest H-1518 Budapest, Pf. 32, Hungary Phone/Fax: (36-1)372-2924 Mobil/SMS: (36) 20-366-1172 http://hps.elte.hu/~leszabo