Journal article

The role of heuristic appraisal in conflicting assessments of string theory

Kristian Camilleri, Sophie Ritson

STUDIES IN HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN PHYSICS | ELSEVIER SCI LTD | Published : 2015

Abstract

Over the last three decades, string theory has emerged as one of the leading hopes for a consistent theory of quantum gravity that unifies particle physics with general relativity. Despite the fact that string theory has been a thriving research program for the better part of three decades, it has been subjected to extensive criticism from a number of prominent physicists. The aim of this paper is to obtain a clearer picture of where the conflict lies in competing assessments of string theory, through a close reading of the argumentative strategies employed by protagonists on both sides. Although it has become commonplace to construe this debate as stemming from different attitudes to the ab..

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