Richard Dawid
University of Vienna, Austria
Spring Term 2008
Changes of the scientific paradigm in the context of string theory

Richard Dawid is a researcher at the University of Vienna and the Institute Vienna Circle. He got his PhD in theoretical physics at the University of Vienna and spent some time working as an elementary particle physicist in Munich and Berkeley before switching to philosophy of science.

The focus of his research lies on the philosophical implications of contemporary elementary particle physics. In particular, he is interested in the changes of the notion of scientific theory assessment that can be observed in string physics. He believes that this phenomenon is best to be understood in terms of the question of the underdetermination of scientific theory building and may be of interest for the debate on scientific realism. In his understanding, the analysis of the specific situation in string physics can both contribute to and profit from a more general rethinking of these two philosophical conceptions. He is also interested in the question of reductionism and in the differences between the notion of a scientific model in particle physics and the model-concepts applied in other scientific fields.

Richard enjoys listening to classical music and eating well. In Pittsburgh he is fascinated by the grand dinosaur collection. (A cast of Pittsburgh’s Diplodocus actually has made it to Vienna.) He also likes playing tennis but, when abroad, always has difficulties finding tennis partners.