自然的数学化 关于科学革命编史纲领的探讨

The Mathematization of Nature: An Inquiry into a Historiographical Issue of the Scientific Revolution

文章在评论柯瓦雷、韦斯特佛和弗洛里斯·科恩等三位科学史家编史纲领的基础上,指出科学革命是一个有结构的动力学进程,该结构由数学化表征、本体论承诺和发现型实验三大主题交织而成。这三大主题之间的相互限制和相互促进,构成了科学革命的主线。自然的数学化只能从数学表征这个角度来理解,并且不能脱离其他两大主题而独立发展。数学化表征既依赖于我们关于物理实在的本体论承诺,同时又启迪着我们去修正原有的本体论承诺。

On the basis of a critical review of the historiographical viewpoints of three historians, namely Alexerder Koyre, Richard Westfall and Floris Cohen, the author argues that the scientific revolution is a dynamically structured process. The structure of the scientific revolution consists of three themes the mathematical representation, the ontological commitment, and the experiment for discovery. The dynamics comes from the interactive restriction and promotion among the three relatively independent themes. The mathematization of nature should be understood as the mathematical representation of nature and would reach an impasse when detached from the advancement of the other two themes. On the one hand, the mathematical representation depends on our ontological commitment of the physical reality; on the other hand, the mathematical representation inspires us to modify the accepted ontological commitment.