SMuK 2023 – scientific programme

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AGPhil: Arbeitsgruppe Philosophie der Physik

AGPhil 9: Quantum Foundations 5

AGPhil 9.1: Talk

Thursday, March 23, 2023, 14:00–14:30, JAN/0027

Transcendental dimensions of epistemic networks in the foundations of quantum mechanics — •Alex Seuthe — TU Dortmund University, Dortmund, Germany

The tool of social network analysis has been translated into the history and philosophy of science as epistemic network analysis. According to Renn (cf. The evolution of knowledge, 2020), three dimensions can be assigned to these networks: the social, semiotic, and semantic. The social dimension encompasses social actors and structures, the semiotic dimension encompasses experiments, and representations. The semantic dimension encompasses cognitive structures, concepts, and mental models with two main aspects: 1) They gain meaning through their interpretation of experience and their relationships with one another. 2) They can only be inferred by the reconstructive analysis of social and physical representations. I want to discuss how this novel analysis strategy of epistemic complexes can be related to the philosophy of symbolic forms of Cassirer. This theoretical reflection can help to enrich the sole aggregation of empirical data, as it often can be seen in the social sciences, with theoretical and epistemological meaning. 1) I want to outline how Cassirer's functional concept formation is similar to Renn's understanding of networks of semantic structures. 2) According to Cassirer, the basic forms of thinking manifest themselves in the social and semantic expressions of culture. I will utilise studies about the foundations of quantum mechanics as a case study to develop and illustrate my arguments.