Talk: Kevin Coffey (NYU Abu-Dhabi)

Title:

Dimensions of Theorizing: Reformulation, Structure, and Symmetry

Abstract:

This talk examines a range of interpretive principles used in the philosophy of physics and their application to situations involving (apparent) theoretical equivalence. In particular, when there are theoretically equivalent formulations of a theory possessing radically different mathematical structures, what guides inquiry into the fundamental ontology of the underlying theory? I explore this question through the lens of one particular case: the Newtonian and Lagrangian formulations of classical dynamics. I argue against recent claims of Lagrangian fundamentality, and in the process make explicit a host of considerations that are largely implicit within our interpretive practices. The talk thus functions both as an inquiry into classical dynamics, and as a case study concerning the general nature of interpretive principles.