Perhaps the most influential historian of science of the last century, Alexandre Koyré, famously argued that the icon of modern science, Galileo Galilei, was a Platonist who had hardly performed experiments. Koyré has been followed by other historians and philosophers of science. In addition, it is not difficult to find examples of Platonists in contemporary science, in particular in the physical sciences. A famous example is the icon of twenty century physics, Albert Einstein. This paper addresses two questions related to the Platonism of modern physical science. The first is: How is Galileo’s Platonism compatible with the fact that he did perform experiments? The solution to this apparent paradox can be found in Plato’s late dialogue Timaeus. In the dialogue the world has been created by a divine craftsman according to an original plan. The task of the scientist is not primarily to describe the material world, but to reconstruct the original plan. This view has later been known as “God’s Eye View”. The second question is: If a God’s Eye View is unattainable, how is it possible to give a “rational reconstruction” of Galileo’s Platonism? The key-word is idealisation. It is further argued that idealisation is intimately related to technology. Technology is required to realize ideal experimental conditions, and the results are in its turn implemented in technology. The implication is that the quest for unity in science, based on physics as the basic science, should be replaced by the recognition of the diversity of the sciences.

亚历山大·柯瓦雷（Alexandre Koyré）也许是上世纪最有影响力的科学史家，他提出了著名的观点：现代科学的偶像伽利略·伽利雷（Galileo Galilei）是一位几乎没有做过实验的柏拉图主义者。科瓦雷受到其他历史学家和科学哲学家的追随。此外，在当代科学中，特别是在物理科学中，也不难找到柏拉图主义者的例子。一个著名的例子是二十世纪物理学的偶像阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦。本文讨论了与现代物理科学柏拉图主义相关的两个问题。第一个是：伽利略的柏拉图主义与他确实进行过实验的事实如何兼容？这个明显悖论的解决方案可以在柏拉图晚期对话录《蒂迈欧篇》中找到。在对话中，世界是由一位神匠按照最初的计划创造出来的。科学家的任务主要不是描述物质世界，而是重建最初的计划。这个观点后来被称为“上帝之眼”。第二个问题是：如果上帝视角无法实现，又如何能够对伽利略的柏拉图主义进行“理性重构”？关键词是理想化。有人进一步认为，理想化与技术密切相关。实现理想的实验条件需要技术，而结果又通过技术得以实现。其含义是，对以物理学为基础科学的科学统一性的追求应该被对科学多样性的承认所取代。