Uploaded July 2019 | Updated September 2026, 1 hour ago
At the risk of infuriating the audience, I’m hoping to talk about what exactly an "emergent" or "nonnfundamental" ontology for particle physics could possibly be. My aim is to articulate (or exorcise) a persistent dissatisfaction, in some sense directed at David Wallace, with appeals made to emergent/nonfundamental entities in various parts of the foundations of physics literature. It's not obvious how to make sense of such entities, or how to argue about whether to endorse them, in the absence of agreement either about what's fundamental or about what it is to be spatiotemporally located. A striking counterpoint here is the contemporary metaphysics literature about fundamentality and emergence, much of which seems unfolds in the scope of the assumption that we know what the fundamental entities are, and they’re a lot like the particles of Lucretius.
Foundations of Quantum Field Theory: 2019 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
June 12 - 14, 2019
Laura Ruetsche, University of Michigan
Visit the Rotman website for more information on applications, events, project descriptions, and openings. rotman.uwo.ca
Follow The Rotman Institute on Twitter: twitter.com/rotmanphilo
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At the risk of infuriating the audience, I’m hoping to talk about what exactly an "emergent" or "nonnfundamental" ontology for particle physics could possibly be. My aim is to articulate (or exorcise) a persistent dissatisfaction, in some sense directed at David Wallace, with appeals made to emergent/nonfundamental entities in various parts of the foundations of physics literature. It's not obvious how to make sense of such entities, or how to argue about whether to endorse them, in the absence of agreement either about what's fundamental or about what it is to be spatiotemporally located. A striking counterpoint here is the contemporary metaphysics literature about fundamentality and emergence, much of which seems unfolds in the scope of the assumption that we know what the fundamental entities are, and they’re a lot like the particles of Lucretius.
Foundations of Quantum Field Theory: 2019 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conference
June 12 - 14, 2019
Laura Ruetsche, University of Michigan
Visit the Rotman website for more information on applications, events, project descriptions, and openings. rotman.uwo.ca
Follow The Rotman Institute on Twitter: twitter.com/rotmanphilo
Like The Rotman Institute on Facebook: facebook.com/rotmanphilosophy
Subscribe to our channel: youtube.com/user/rotmanphilosophy
