Beauty and Revolution in Science

247 Pages·1996·4.395 MB·English

by  James W. McAllister

BEAUTY &:
REVOLUTION
IN SCIENCE
JamWe sM cAllister
BEAUTY
&
REVOLUTION
IN SCIENCE
CornUenlilv ePrrsseist y
ITHACAAN D LONDON
Copyright© 19¢ by Cornell University
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First published 1996 by Cornell University Press.
Printed in the United States of America
9€ The paper in this book meets the minimum requirements
of the American National Standard for Information Sciences
Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI 239.48-1984.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McAllister, James W. (James William), 1962-
Beauty and revolution in science I James W. McAllister.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8014-3240-5 (alk. paper)
1. Science-Philosophy. 2. Science-Mathematical models.
3. Aesthetics. 4. Rationalism. I. Title.
Q175.M415 19¢
501--dc20
Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction
1
1. Two Challenges to Rationalism 7
1. The Rationalist Image of Science 7
2. A Rationalist Model of Theory Evaluation 9
3. Aesthetic Factors in Discovery and Justification 12
4. The Boundaries of Scientific Behavior 16
5. A Precursor: Hutcheson's Account of Beauty in Science 17
2. Abstract Entities and Aesthetic Evaluations
1. The Distinction between Theories and Their
Representations 24
2. The Disregard of Abstract Entities by the Actor-Network
Theory 26
3. Perceiving the Properties of Abstract Entities 28
4. Aesthetic Values, Properties, and Evaluations 29
5. Aesthetic Criteria and Canons 34
6. Identifying Which Properties of Theories Are Aesthetic 35
3. The Aesthetic Properties of Scientific Theories 39
1. Classes of Aesthetic Properties 39
2. Form of Symmetry 41
3. Invocation of a Model 44
4. Visualization and Abstractness 48
5. Metaphysical Allegiance 54
6. Beauty in the Biological and Social Sciences 59
4. Two Erroneous Views of Scientists' Aesthetic Judgments 61
1. The Theory of Aesthetic Disinterestedness 61
2. The Accord of Aesthetic and Empirical Judgments 64
3. Reductionism about Aesthetic and Empirical Judgments 67
5. The Inductive Construction 'of Aesthetic Preference
1. Precepts and Their Warrants 70
2. The Warrant of Empirical Criteria 75
3. The Aesthetic Induction 77
4. The Conservatism of Aesthetic Canons 81
5. Fashions and Styles in Science 85
6. An Example of Scientific Style: Mechanicism 86
6. The Relation of Beauty to Truth
1. Beauty as an Attribute of Truth 90
2. Aesthetic Judgment and the Recognition of Truth and
Falsity 92
3. Einstein's Account of Theory Assessment 96
4. The Properties of Theories and the Properties of
Phenomena 98
5. The Possible Success of the Aesthetic Induction 100
6. The Empirical Corroboration of Metaphysical World
Views 102
7. A Study of Simplicity 105
1. The Controversy about Scientists' Simplicity Judgments 105
2. Simplicity and the Unification of Phenomena 109
3. Degrees and Forms of Simplicity 111
4. Quantitative Definitions of Simplicity in Theory Choice 118
5. Simplicity, Beauty, and Truth 120
8. Revolution as Aesthetic Rupture 125
1. The Occurrence of Scientific Revolutions 125
2. The Abandonment of Aesthetic Commitments 128
3. Continuity and Rupture in Revolutions 133
4. Understanding Past Science 135
5. Factors Inducing and Inhibiting Revolutions 137
6. The Analogy with Moral and Political Revolutions 139
9. Induction and Revolution in the Applied Arts 141
1. Aesthetic Judgments and Utilitarian Performance 141
2. The Response of Architectural Design to Iron and Steel 142
3. The Use of Reinforced Concrete in Architecture 154
4. Materials and Forms in Industrial Design 157
5. The Induction to Styles 159
Contents
vi
10. Circles and Ellipses in Astronomy
1. Testing the Model against History 163
2. Did Copernicus's Theory Constitute an Empirical
Advance? 164
3. Copernicus's Return to Aristotelian Principles 168
4. The Aesthetic Preference for Copernicus's Theory 171
5. Kuhn's Account of the Acceptance of Copernicanism 175
6. The Iconoclasm of Kepler's Ellipses 177
11. Continuity and Revolution in Twentieth-Century Physics 182
1. Two Flaws in Classical Physics 182
2. Aesthetic Factors in the Appeal of Relativity Theory 183
3. Quantum Theory and the Loss of Visualization 188
4. The Renunciation of Determinism 195
12. Rational Reasons for Aesthetic Choices 202
1. Review of Results 202
2. A Rational Warrant for Aesthetic Commitments 204
3. The Rationality of Revolutions 205
4. A Natural Inductive Disposition 207
References 209
Index 227
Contents
vii

Illustrations
1. William H. Barlow and George Gilbert Scott, St. Pancras
Station, London (1864) 146
2. Joseph Paxton, Crystal Palace, London (1851) 147
3. Henri Labrouste, Bibliotheque Sainte-Genevieve, Paris
(1843-1850) 149
4. Ferdinand Dutert and Victor Contamin, Galerie (or Palais) des
Machines, Paris (1889) 152
5. Auguste Perret, apartment block, 25b, rue Franklin, Paris (1903) 156
6. Auguste Perret, Notre Dame, Le Rainey (1922) 158
ix