Theory assessment and reality in Boltzmann's epistemological thinking

Abstract

This paper discusses how theories can be assessed within the epistemological viewpoint advanced by the Austrian physicist Ludwig E. Boltzmann. It builds upon, and further develops, the perspective of Boltzmann's thinking as advanced by Ribeiro and Videira (1998, arXiv:physics/9806011). Boltzmann's epistemological viewpoint accepts that reality is real and proposes that reality can be described by different points of view because his main philosophical thesis states that scientific theories are images of Nature. We present the historical context that witnessed the genesis of Boltzmann's ideas and expand Ribeiro and Videira's (Ibid.) perspective by arguing that later in his life Boltzmann realized the insufficiency of his thesis as justification for theoretical pluralism and avoidance of dogmatism. Consequently, his thinking went beyond epistemology, the nature of scientific knowledge, to include realism, the nature of the represented objects.

19 pages. New abstract. Sections 1 and 5 were slightly revised and enlarged. Version v1 was intended as a chapter of a book on Boltzmann, but the publisher cancelled it. This version matches the text appearing in "Interdisciplinary Science Reviews"