Beyond the edge of certainty : reflections on the rise of physical conventionalism
Until today, conventionalism is mainly regarded from the point of view of geometry, both in historical as in philosophical perspective. This paper, which corresponds in a certain way with earlier studies of J. Giedymin, aims at a broader interpretation. The importance of the so-called ‘physics of principles’, rooted in the tradition of analytical mechanics, for Poincaré’s conventionalism is emphasized. It is argued that important elements of physical conventionalism can already be found in this...