Einstein’s Universe
An Interpretation Through the Methodology of the Theory of Science
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47456/sofia.v15i1.51669Keywords:
cosmology, Einstein, methodology, scienceAbstract
The present essay aims to introduce the Methodology of the Theory of Science, developed and structured by Professor Jose Raymundo Novaes Chiappin in his PhD dissertation (Chiappin, 1989), as a methodological instrument capable of organizing and hierarchizing the various philosophical components relevant to the rational reconstruction of episodes in the history of science. As a case study, we employ the narrative concerning the origins of Relativistic Cosmology, focusing on the model of the universe proposed by Einstein in 1917. The MTC suggests identifying the epistemic unit and distinguishing the methodological, metaphysical, and historical components. At the metaphysical level, one must identify the ontological, methodological, and axiological components of any conception of science. In reconstructing Einstein’s cosmological model, we are led to identify General Relativity as the epistemic unit of his formulation and of all major cosmological formulations that immediately followed it (such as the cosmologies of Friedmann and Lemaître). In the following pages, we provide a more detailed decomposition of his cosmological formulation, separating propositions concerning our knowledge of the universe (epistemological), the constituents of the universe (ontological), and the aims and values of Cosmology as a science (axiological). Decompositions at the levels of methodology, metamethodology, logic, and history are also presented in this essay. We argue that the MTC, as a theoretical instrument, can contribute to the growing and fruitful integration between studies in the history and philosophy of science.
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