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arXiv · 2008.04746

Ontological Categorizations and Selection Biases in Cosmology: the case of Extra Galactic Objects

Paolo Valore·Maria Giovanna Dainotti·Oskar Kopczyński
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Abstract

One of the innovative approaches in contemporary philosophical ontology consists in the assumption of a plurality of ontologies based on different metaphysical presuppositions. Such presuppositions involve, among others, the identification of relevant properties for the objects of our domain as a guiding principle in uncovering what it is to be considered intrinsic and what could be the mere effect of selection preferences based on objective or subjective criteria. A remarkable example of the application of a background metaphysical theory in astrophysics is the problem of selection biases in detecting cosmological objects, such as supernovae, galaxies and gamma-ray bursts. We will show that it is valuable to be aware of the importance of uncovering this type of background theory to better understand selection effects and to promote a novel approach in scientific research.

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Paolo Valore, Maria Giovanna Dainotti, Oskar Kopczyński. 2020-08-11. Ontological Categorizations and Selection Biases in Cosmology: the case of Extra Galactic Objects. https://arxiv.org/abs/2008.04746

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