Effortless Elegance: A Metacognitive Account of Aesthetics in Science

Scientists regularly appeal to broadly aesthetic qualities such as elegance, beauty, and simplicity when evaluating theories. For example, the geologist Émile Argand said that “the elegance with which drift theory explains these significant facts … is certainly a strong point in its favour” and the physicist Paul Dirac said about general relativity that its “real foundations come from the great beauty of the theory”. But how can aesthetics be epistemically relevant? In this thesis, I present an account according to which aesthetic experiences can function as signals of epistemic value. Very roughly, it says that aesthetic feelings concerning scientific theories are the upshots of metacognitive processes which respond to features of epistemic value and signal the success of one’s cognitive engagement with theory and evidence. Through a detailed case study of the role of aesthetics in the development and acceptance of the theory of plate tectonics and by providing an explanation of how aesthetic experiences can be epistemically valuable, I show that there is reason for optimism about the role of aesthetic considerations in science: aesthetic pleasure is a moderately good indicator of epistemic success.