Is Physics Philosophy?

When and why did Physiscists start Bashing Philosophy?
Talk given at the 2023 DPG meeting in Dresden.
I apologize for the missing video picture in the discussion.

Mind also my backup channel:

[steaminglobster]

Yep, physics needs to answer big questions, otherwise it is artificial "intelligence", lost in repeating facts in super super details.

[livetolearn]

Yes, physics is a branch of philosophy, it was known as natural philosophy in ancient age.

[eterista]

I read some Einstein's texts about philosophy (especially philosophy of science and epistemology) and was surprised by his enthusiasm about philosophy and necessity of it for real physicist as a seeker of truth not just artisan/specialist. Little quote by Albert Einstein: "When I think about the ablest students whom I have encountered in my teaching, that is, those who distinguish themselves by their independence of judgment and not merely their quick-wittedness, I can affirm that they had a vigorous interest in epistemology. They happily began discussions about the goals and methods of science, and they showed unequivocally, through their tenacity in defending their views, that the subject seemed important to them. Indeed, one should not be surprised at this."
I also think about the mathematicians who were also philosophers and vice-versa: Wittgenstein, Russell, Whitehead, Husserl, Bolzano. And those are not just analytic philosophers. The historical relation between mathematics and philosophy, especially through their common discipline of Logic is also very interesting with subsequent separation of these two disciplines: mathematics' more specialization/isolation and philosophy tying itself more with linguistics/ philology after WW2.

[philoso]

Page -18:07 bravo
think > observe > calculate > rethink > re-observe > > >, , ,

[atypocrat]

The speaker is discussing the dismissal of philosophy by physicists and how it has affected physics as a discipline, leading to a crisis. They argue that many of the greatest physicists of the past, such as Einstein and Schroedinger, engaged with philosophical questions as part of their work, but this changed after World War II with a focus on technology and applications. The difference in culture between American and European science is cited as a key factor, with the former prioritizing usefulness and individual thinkers, while the latter values understanding fundamental questions and large-scale experiments. The lack of understanding and will to understand fundamental questions has resulted in a multi-parameter enterprise such as the standard model, with over 100 free parameters. The speaker concludes that the crisis in physics can only be resolved by a return to philosophical inquiry and a deeper understanding of fundamental questions. The speaker emphasizes the need for intercultural dialogue and the importance of philosophers in addressing these fundamental questions. The measurement problem is cited as one of these fundamental questions.

[philoso]

To earn an architect degree one has to be a full capable civil engineer first.
To be a good scientist he must excel in all these: apparatus, design of experiment, execution, observation, decipher data, interpretation, comprehension AND guided by philosophy - first.
None scientist qualify that after Michael Faraday.

[raphaelward]

Atheist evangelism is part of it, Dawkins and Hawking, both philosophers who deny philosophy, both have done more philosophy than actual science. I did Physics and Philosophy at Oxford 1992 - 1997, there were five of us. All emerges from philosophy, as a separate discipline emerges what is left in philosophy becomes more and more esoteric, physics is finding itself in this position later but hasn't noticed yet

[ManuelGarcia-wwgj]

All sciences, including physics, are rooted in philosophy. For a long time all the special branches of science were referred to as "natural philosophy." While philosophy has nothing to say about physics per se, it does have veto power over physics whenever existence itself comes up.

[steveDC]

Great speech. Totally agree - less building- more thinking.

[cengland]

Carver Mead's talks seen on YouTube suggest to me that all is not lost in American physics. His "general relativity bashing" and arguments for variable speed of light and Mach's Principle seem to me what Herr Unzicker might appreciate. Carver's background is largely in engineering of electronics. I understand the gulf that separates the thinking of scientists and engineers, having myself given talks to JPL scientists who seemed puzzled when I applied simple thermal analysis to planetary bodies.

[nicolettileo]

The idea of truth for itself, not depending on its usefulness and pratical purposes is one of the pillars of Western philosophy since the Greek philosophers. The shift towards applied sciences is one of the many ovens of the decline of Europe...

[viverasschweiz]

Philosophie is the mother of all science..show her some respect.

[ΠαντελήςΧ]

This makes sense on many levels, scientific but also cultural and political.

[mmotsenbocker]

A big problem is that doctorate studies lead to a doctorate in philosophy (PhD) but do not teach philosophy. Every doctorate program should include a handful of basic philosophy courses. I was always puzzled that as graduare studest in science we were practicing a philosophy subdiscipline but did not formally study philosophy.

[iyziejane]

I was a physics professor and genuine doctor of philosophy, but I lost my position for correctly opposing the unethical COVID mandates. I would summarize the majority of current physicists, even at the highest levels, as rat racers who are chasing social status and comfort, and not as intellectuals. They don't reflect on history, they don't understand the meaning of the term "critical thinking", they have no courage, and they have no understanding of Plato's division between the world of illusion and reality. The institutions we call universities today are decrepit and in desperate need of total dissolution. I need to find a new community and profession with serious intellectuals, I was barking up the wrong tree for the past 20 years.

[jonathanhockey]

They started bashing philosophy about the same time they became ignorant of it, and realised that a lot of their mainstream physics is actually based on a very simplistic and almost definitely wrong philosophy.

[alexandrekassiantchouk]

Recent "Planck's Constant Was Smaller In Early Universe" will make any physicist a philosopher.

[marcv]

I think lectures like this will become more important in historical context over time.

[philoso]

❤ Excellent topic, Eric. Thanks.

Without philosophy we are intuitively and intellectually blinded, next we are out of touch in reality. All we can do is to invent new physics.

[bishwajitbhattacharjee-xmxp]

Some corrections fifth line from bottom on new science
In natural philosophy natural constant are property of both, function (Space: time).