A Neo-Aristotelian Approach to a Unified Theory of Physics
Abstract
The core task of this paper is to demonstrate the heuristic merits of the Aristotelian philosophy of science as compared with the strict empiricism in constructing and justifying a unified theory of physics. The impetus for the study was the question of whether the success of the Dynamic Universe (DU) theory as a candidate for such a unification could be explained by energy as its basic notion (Suntola, T. 2018a, 2018b, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024), while the other unificatory attempts (string theories, inflation theory, and loop quantum gravity), all based on the notion of force, appear to fail. DU’s reliance on Aristotle’s methodology of first principles and his potentiality-actuality metaphysics soon invited to explore DU’s Aristotelian presuppositions as an explanatory ground for its seeming success. A major weakness of empiricism is its rejection of metaphysical reflection, necessary for the revolutionary paradigm change in the unification project. While the empiricist negative stand towards metaphysics is based on its narrow conception of basis of knowledge and logical reasoning and the principle of methodological unity, Aristotelian solutions to these problems are difficult to refute. The Stagirite’s methodology of Saving the Appearances (SA), little known outside Aristotle scholarship, exposes ways of expanding the knowledge basis to make room for metaphysical knowledge. SA is valuable to our purposes here also by yielding a heuristic model for the discovery and…
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