Cosmology and convention

@article{Merritt2017CosmologyAC,
  title={Cosmology and convention},
  author={David Merritt},
  journal={Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics},
  year={2017},
  volume={57},
  pages={41-52}
}
  • D. Merritt
  • Published 2017
  • Physics
  • Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics
Abstract I argue that some important elements of the current cosmological model are 'conventionalist’ in the sense defined by Karl Popper. These elements include dark matter and dark energy; both are auxiliary hypotheses that were invoked in response to observations that falsified the standard model as it existed at the time. The use of conventionalist stratagems in response to unexpected observations implies that the field of cosmology is in a state of 'degenerating problemshift’ in the… Expand
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