A four-point heuristic is presented for evaluating the fundamentality of any physical theory. A theory considered "fundamental" has four features: It is general, parsimonious, relational, and mechanism-suggestive. These qualities are examined in the context of general relativity, Darwinian evolution, and their historical antecedents, as well as a hypothetical case in which inhabitants of a 1+1-dimensional world seek a theory of an observed phenomenon and an explanation for the value of a mysterious constant of nature. This analysis reveals the role that fundamentality plays in the progression of science, suggesting pathways toward a fundamental theoretic structure that describes the mechanisms of the world.
Karl Coryat