Page 196 - Pure Life 33
P. 196
Quantum Fluctuation… M.S. Mousavi Karimi (195
Therefore, he claims that scientific theories are only
“a scientific theory is just a mathematical models or
mathematical model we not, has no connection with
make to describe our the problem of the reality
observations: it exists only of physical entities, unless
in our minds. So, it is one reduces scientific
meaningless to ask: which theories to a set of
is real, “real” or scientific terms, and also
“imaginary” time?” assumes that scientific
(Hawking, 1997: 139) terms and the entities that
These comments show they denote are
that however good a ontologically the same.
physicist Hawking may be, Therefore, it is totally
how rough and inaccurate justified that we expect
his philosophical views are. Hawking and Hartle to
To begin with, his views present a physical
are more likely to be interpretation of the notion
instrumentalistic, not positivistic. of “imaginary time”, an
In any case, nobody- expectation that is very
whether she is a positivist, unlikely to be met.
an instrumentalist, or If Hawking’s positivism
anything else- has claimed or instrumentalism (whichever
that the question of the the case may be) is the right
reality of physical entities is approach to cosmology,
meaningless, though some and so it is meaningless to
philosophers have claimed ask whether “imaginary”
that it is useless. Whether time is real or not, then
