Abstract

This essay presents a systematic survey of interpretive practices in physics research. It offers key insights into the complex interplay between experiment and theory, as well as into the dynamics of concept formation and theory development. The survey is not only relevant from the perspective of the philosophy of science but also provides a valuable basis for comparing interpretive practices across other academic disciplines—including other branches of philosophy. The paper distinguishes between different types of experiments and highlights the multiple, and at times changing, conceptual roles that experiments can play. Among these, explorative uses of experimentation are shown to be particularly important, as they enable the discovery of new research areas and phenomena. Furthermore, a closer examination of reinterpretations—or role changes—of experiments reveals a distinctive argumentative practice. This practice, which proves to be highly innovative for theory development, combines negative empirical results with inferences from privation in a way that may be characterized as a transcendental argument.