The philosophical foundations of the evolution of physical cognition

The author proposes the classification of models of physical theories evolution - the models with the physical basis (constant and programming models) and the models with the philosophical basis (categorical, schematic and generalized categorical and schematic model). On the basis of the models' analysis the author specifies the philosophical foundations of the evolution of physical theories (namely, the idea of symmetry and the idea of geometrization of physics which contributed to the attempt of constructing unified theories of interactions. The article also includes two approaches to the development of physical cognition (to the creation of a unified physical theory) - geometric approach and calibration approach. These approaches can be described as reductionism from the philosophic viewpoint.