The dangers of non-empirical confirmation

TL;DR

This paper critiques the reliance on non-empirical evidence in scientific theory validation, using string theory as a case study to highlight potential risks to scientific reliability.

Contribution

It provides a critical analysis of non-empirical confirmation methods and discusses their implications for scientific credibility, especially in theoretical physics.

Findings

Non-empirical arguments can undermine scientific reliability.

String theory exemplifies risks of over-relying on non-empirical evidence.

Excessive non-empirical confirmation may threaten scientific progress.

Abstract

In the book "String Theory and the Scientific Method", Richard Dawid describes a few of the many non-empirical arguments that motivate theoretical physicists' confidence in a theory, taking string theory as case study. I argue that excessive reliance on non-empirical evidence compromises the reliability of science, and that precisely the case of string theory well illustrates this danger.