Meaning, Truth, and Physics

Abstract

A physical theory is a partially interpreted axiomatic formal system, where L is a formal language with some logical, mathematical and physical axioms, and with some derivation rules, and the semantics S is a relationship between the formulas of L and some states of affairs in the physical world. In our ordinary discourse, the formal system L is regarded as an abstract object or structure, the semantics S as something which involves the mental/conceptual realm. This view is of course incompatible with physicalism. How can physical theory be accommodated in a purely physical ontology? The aim of this paper is to outline an account for meaning and truth of physical theory, within the philosophical framework spanned by three doctrines: physicalism, empiricism, and the formalist philosophy of mathematics.

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Author's Profile

Laszlo E. Szabo
Eotvos Lorand University of Sciences

References found in this work

The direction of time.Hans Reichenbach - 1956 - Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications. Edited by Maria Reichenbach.
The Direction of Time.Hans Reichenbach - 1956 - Philosophy 34 (128):65-66.
Language, Truth and Logic.[author unknown] - 1937 - Erkenntnis 7 (1):123-125.
On the method of theoretical physics.Albert Einstein - 1934 - Philosophy of Science 1 (2):163-169.

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