The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics: Classical Mechanics II

TL;DR

This paper critically examines the epistemological significance of Newton's third law, highlighting issues of potential violations, lack of clarity, and the need for better conceptual frameworks in classical mechanics.

Contribution

It offers a systematic epistemological analysis of Newton's third law, addressing contradictions and emphasizing the need for clearer conceptual and experimental foundations.

Findings

Identifies contradictions in the literature regarding Newton's third law.

Highlights lack of systematic epistemological frameworks.

Points out absence of experimental verification in debates.

Abstract

In this paper of "The Epistemology of Contemporary Physics" series we investigate Newton's third law and discuss and analyze its epistemological significance from some aspects with special attention to its relation to the principle of conservation of linear and angular momentum. The main issue in this investigation is the potential violations of this law according to the claims made in the literature of mainstream physics. This issue may cast a shadow on the validity of classical mechanics, and its Newtonian formulation in particular, formally and epistemologically and could have important implications and consequences on contemporary physics in general. However, what is more important about this issue from our perspective is the lack of clarity, comprehensibility and coherence in the investigation and analysis of this issue and its implications marked by the absence of appropriate conceptual and epistemological frameworks to deal with this issue properly and systematically. As a result, what we find in the literature is a collection of contradicting views which are mostly based on personal choices and preferences and selective or biased theoretical analysis with the lack of proper experimental verification and substantiation.