Aesthetic Comparison of Einstein’s and Whitehead’s Theories of Gravity
This article addresses both philosophers of science and process philosophers. It shows that the acceptance of Einstein’s general theory of relativity by British physicists in the early 1920s, and their rejection of Whitehead’s experimentally indistinguishable theory of gravity, was a matter not only...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
University of Illinois Press
2016
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| In: |
Process studies
Year: 2016, Volume: 45, Issue: 1, Pages: 33-46 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article addresses both philosophers of science and process philosophers. It shows that the acceptance of Einstein’s general theory of relativity by British physicists in the early 1920s, and their rejection of Whitehead’s experimentally indistinguishable theory of gravity, was a matter not only of empirical evaluation but also of aesthetic preference. To philosophers of science it offers a historical case study illustrating the entangled roles of empirical and aesthetic criteria in theory evaluation. To process philosophers it offers an answer to the question of why Whitehead’s alternative rendering of Einstein’s general relativity has been neglected both by the majority of physicists, and by the majority of philosophers. |
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| ISSN: | 2154-3682 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Process studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.2307/44797988 |