Cosmologia e Representa\c{c}\~ao

TL;DR

This paper explores the philosophical and epistemological foundations of modern cosmology, emphasizing that scientific theories are representations of nature, which are inherently partial and provisional, fostering dialogue among diverse ways of understanding reality.

Contribution

It introduces an epistemological perspective based on Boltzmann's theses, highlighting the role of representations in science and advocating for theoretical pluralism in cosmology.

Findings

Scientific theories are representations, not direct descriptions of nature.

All scientific truths are provisional and subject to change.

Dialogue among different modes of thinking is possible through shared representations.

Abstract

This work presents a brief and non-technical description of the main results and concepts of the modern scientific cosmology, viewing it from an epistemological perspective which allows a dialog with other modes of thinking like e.g. history, philosophy, sociology and religion. This epistemological viewpoint is based on the philosophical theses advanced by Ludwig Boltzmann (1844-1906) which states that scientific theories are nothing more than representations, or images, of nature (arXiv:physics/0701308v1). By being representations one cannot know how nature really is because the intrinsic and indispensable properties that characterize nature are unreachable by science. In other words, the true essences that constitute nature are unknowable. Therefore, all answers proposed by science are partial, simplified and replaceable. Another way of putting forward this viewpoint is to state that all scientific truths are provisional, a result which naturally leads to the conclusion that the same set of phenomena, or scientific questions, may have various answers, or representations. This conclusion is generally known as theoretical pluralism (arXiv:physics/9806011). It is exactly such a plurality for conceiving, or representing, nature that opens the way for a possibly fruitful dialog among the various forms of thinking, since this dialog can take place in the realm of the representations. A few examples taken from cosmology, sociology and theology are discussed in the context of this epistemological framework.