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The unique nature of cosmology

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Revisiting the Foundations of Relativistic Physics

Abstract

Cosmology has progressed in the last 35 years from a mainly mathematical and philosophical exercise to an important branch of both astronomy and physics, and is now part of mainstream science, with a well-established standard model confirmed by various strands of evidence (Weinberg 1972; Peebles et al. 1991; Coles and Ellis 1997). Nevertheless because of its nature, it is different from any other branch of the natural sciences. The major issue causing the differences is the uniqueness of its object of study—the Universe as a whole—together with its role as the background for all the rest of physics and science, the resulting problems being accentuated by its vast scale and the extreme energies occurring in the early universe. We are unable to manipulate in any way its originating conditions, and there are limitations on our ability both to observe to very distant regions and very early times and also to test the physics relevant at the earliest times. Consequently it is inevitable that (as is the case for the other historical sciences) specific philosophical choices will to some degree shape the nature of cosmological theory, particularly when it moves beyond the purely descriptive to an explanatory role—which move is central to its impressive progress. These philosophical choices will dominate the resulting understanding to the extent that we pursue a theory with more ambitious explanatory aims.

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  1. University of Cape Town, Cape Town

    George F. R. Ellis

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Jürgen Renn Lindy Divarci Petra Schröter Abhay Ashtekar Robert S. Cohen Don Howard Sahotra Sarkar Abner Shimony

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Ellis, G.F.R. (2003). The unique nature of cosmology. In: Renn, J., et al. Revisiting the Foundations of Relativistic Physics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0111-3_9

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