Distinguishing Varieties of Relativistic Causality

Tomorrow, March 28, from 4:00-6:00, Professor Jeremy Butterfield of Trinity College, Cambridge, will deliver "Distinguishing Varieties of Relativistic Causality."  The talk will take place at 5 Washington Place.  For more information, check out this flyer or the New York/ New Jersey Philosophy of Science Discussion Group's webpage.

Paul Steinhardt Talk

Rethinking Cosmology

Paul Steinhardt, Albert Einstein Professor of Physics at Princeton,  will visit Rutgers' Philosophy of Physics Seminar April 19.  This talk will begin by discussing the various reasons why most cosmologists today consider the big bang inflationary cosmology to be the leading, if not proven, theory of the universe.  Then the discussion will turn to explaining why each of these reasons is flawed.  This naturally leads to the question: "What is the alternative?"  Understanding the flaws suggests possible directions to turn.

For a quick background, check out this article: The Inflation Debate.  More background articles will be posted soon on the course webpage.

The talk will take place from 1:00-4:00 PM on Friday, April 19.

Call for Applications to Summer Institute in Philosophy and Cosmology

Call for Applications

Summer Institute/School in Philosophy of Cosmology UC Santa Cruz (UCSC) June 23-July 14, 2013

Directors: David Albert (Columbia), Barry Loewer (Rutgers), Joel Primack (UCSC)

The Multi-university Templeton Project on Philosophy of Cosmology will conduct a three week summer institute in philosophy of cosmology at the University of California Santa Cruz. The purpose of the institute is to promote understanding of and research in issues in the philosophy of cosmology. Among the topics to be discussed are philosophical foundations of statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and relativity theory, the direction of time, questions of whether space and time are fundamental or emergent, reasons for believing in a multi-verse, anthropic arguments, the metaphysics of laws and chance, why anything at all exists. There will also be lectures on recent developments in cosmology intended for participants who are not cosmologists.

Read more: Call for Applications to Summer Institute in Philosophy and Cosmology

New Postdoctoral Fellows

Three new postdoctoral fellows are now joining are project.  We're excited to welcome Anna Ijjas, Ward Struyve, and Tiziana Vistarini to the team!

Philosophy of Cosmology Project discussed in the CHE

There's an interesting article in the most reacent Chronicle of Higher Education discussing Templeton grants to philosophers and scientists, with special emphasis on this one.  If you'd like to know more about the history of the Templeton foundation, or about the process by which our group became affiliated with the foundation, it's definitely worth a read.  You can find it here.

Parallel Project in Oxford and Cambridge

For more information about the parallel project in philosophy of cosmology at Oxford and Cambridge, please see the following webpage: http://philcosmo.physics.ox.ac.uk/  We're very excited about this promising partnership.

Philosophy of Cosmology Postdocs

The Philosophy of Cosmology team is pleased to announce that three postdoctoral fellowships are now available to recent PhD's hoping to advance their research in the philosophy of cosmology or related feilds.  For information on who's eligible and how to apply, go here.  Applications will be accepted starting July 8.

A Universe From Nothing?

In 'A Universe From Nothing,' Lawrence M. Krauss argues that quantum mechanics can explain why there is something rather than nothing. In this review in the New York Times, David Albert argues that Kraus' arguments fall far shorter than he intends.  For a full discussion look here.

Templeton Grant Funds Project in Philosophy of Cosmology at Oxford and Cambridge

See the announcement here.

Tim Maudlin in the Atlantic

Check out this interesting interview with Tim Maudlin, in which he discusses the early stages of the universe, some questions in the philosophy of physics, and the relationship between philosophy and physics (as disciplines).