Claus Festersen defends his doctoral thesis
Claus Festersen Claus Festersen defends his doctoral thesis 'Relativity and the A Priori. Reconsidering Friedman’s Dynamics of Reason in Light of Darrigol’s Comprehensibility Principles.'
All are welcome.
The assessment committee is:
- Patrick Blackburn, tt备用网址, Department of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University
- Olivier Darrigol, Research Director CNRS/Université Denis Diderot, and tt备用网址 at the University of California, Berkeley
- Hans Halvorsen, Research tt备用网址, University of Copenhagen and Stuart tt备用网址 of Philosophy, University of Princeton
The defense will be followed by a reception.
Registration
No registration. All are welcome.
Abstract
This dissertation critically examines Michael Friedman’s concept of the relativized a priori by analyzing the historical transition from Newtonian physics to special relativity. Drawing on Lorentz, Poincaré, Einstein, Ignatowski, and Landau, it shows the limitations of Friedman’s account and instead advocates Olivier Darrigol’s framework of comprehensibility principles and interpretive schemes as a more accurate understanding of the rationality behind the development of physics.