How great is the overlap of Philosophy and Physics?

[CallMeDirac]

For much of physics, its language is fundamentally math, but to a certain point, does philosophical thinking ever play an important part in creating or exploring physics?

It would seem, at least to me, that there is some significant overlap, given that much of understanding physics can't quite be rotely explained through equations alone (to my knowledge) and requires some more artistic thinking when trying to understand such concepts. Further, at a point, does the practice of putting those musings to math look similar to putting arguments to formal logic?

 

[phinds]

given that much of understanding physics can't quite be wrotely explained

Ha. You really had me going with that one. I couldn't figure out if you were using a word I'd never heard of or had invented your own word or just what the hell was going on. For some reason it took a good many seconds for me to realize you intended "rotely"

 

[CallMeDirac]

Ha. You really had me going with that one. I couldn't figure out if you were using a word I'd never heard of or had invented your own word or just what the hell was going on. For some reason it took a good many seconds for me to realize you intended "rotely"

You saw nothing -_-

 

[pinball1970]

You saw nothing -_-

I spelt Planck wrong on here once. Luckily one of the guys pointed it out quickly so I corrected without no one seeing it. A close one.

Anyway philosophy? It is not discussed (allowed) directly on pf but there are recurrent discussions on measurement, observer, interpretations of QM and the nature of reality.

The discussions are very technical and sometimes the disagreements can boil down to the interpretation of a single word!

Einstein and Bohr were probably the first to start doing this following the quantum revolution https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohr–Einstein_debates

There are also discussions regarding John Bells work, EPR and entanglement and a few threads on Ontology https://www.physicsforums.com/threa...for-kids-hard-for-quantum-physicists.1007637/

“Mathematics is philosophy.” A comment by a mathematician on pf. It surprised me at the time but the great philosophers, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras mathematics/science and philosophy walked hand in hand all the way to Cantor, Russel and Turing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_mathematics

Also, Physics used to be called “natural philosophy.”

Plenty of crossing and foundation.

 

[BillTre]

Also, Physics used to be called “natural philosophy.”

I think that there was a time when all of science was called "natural philosophy".
Probably before it was called science.

There is a lot of philosophy that has been discussed tangentially to other main foci of discussion.
I have done this and survived.
Philosophy as the main point of discussion will probably not work well here.

 

[Vanadium 50]

This sounds a lot like "I don't do science, nor have I really studied it, but you're all doing it wrong!" And as evidence, we trot out the old "it seems to me".

This tends not to get any traction. Anywhere.

 

[pinball1970]

Philosophy as the main point of discussion will probably not work well here.

I led with that, the OP has some sort of ban now though.

 

[berkeman]

Yeah, the OP is on vacation for a bit, due to a number of reasons. No need to keep this thread open in the interim.