Question

Explain how and where Richard Feynman’s views on the nature of scientific inquiry connect with those of Karl Popper.

Answer 1

Ben Trubody finds that philosophy-phobic physicist Feynman is an unacknowledged philosopher of science.

Richard Feynman (1918-88) was one of the greatest physicists of the twentieth century, contributing, among other things, to Quantum Electro Dynamics (QED), for which he won a Nobel Prize. His popular portrayal is of a buffooning genius with a preference for no-nonsense thinking – the sort that by his reckoning seemed in short supply within philosophy. He is noted, and quoted, for his dislike of philosophy, and in particular of the philosophy of science. Any quick trawl of the Internet will bring up quotes attributed to him on the absurdities of philosophy, no doubt informed by his brief flirtation with it at Princeton. Feynman would parody what he saw as ‘dopey’ exercises in linguistic sophistry. As he remarks in a famous lecture series, “We can’t define anything precisely. If we attempt to, we get into that paralysis of thought that comes to philosophers… one saying to the other: you don’t know what you are talking about!

Indeed, similar sentiments were also expressed by the philosopher of science Sir Karl Popper concerning the openness to either intractability (constantly adding new terms to define the old ones) or tautologies (statements true by definition) if one has to define all terms precisely before starting scientific investigation. The point I’m making is that Feynman, for all his perceived dislike of philosophy, is in fact an overlooked philosopher of science himself.