What is "fundamental"?
History and Philosophy of Physics
2018-05-18 v1
Abstract
Our collective views regarding the question "what is fundamental?" are continually evolving. These ontological shifts in what we regard as fundamental are largely driven by theoretical advances ("what can we calculate?"), and experimental advances ("what can we measure?"). Rarely (in my view) is epistemology the fundamental driver; more commonly epistemology reacts (after a few decades) to what is going on in the theoretical and experimental zeitgeist.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1805.06617,
title = {What is "fundamental"?},
author = {Matt Visser},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1805.06617},
year = {2018}
}
Comments
7 pages. Essay written for the FQXi 2018 essay contest: What is "fundamental"?