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.
Faculty and lecturers tentatively also include Anthony Aguirre (UCSC), Luke Barnes (Sydney), Craig Callender (UCSD), Sean Carroll (Cal Tech), Shelly Goldstein (Rutgers), Brian Greene (Columbia), Anna Ijjas (Harvard/Rutgers), Tim Maudlin (NYU), Priya Natarajan (Yale), Roderich Tumulka (Rutgers), Ward Struyve (Rutgers), Tiziana Vistarini (Rutgers), David Wallace (Oxford), Dean Zimmerman (Rutgers)
We will be inviting 30-35 participants to the Institute. Participants will primarily be advanced graduate students and young faculty in philosophy, physics, theology, and related areas. Participants will be expected to have a strong interest in issues in philosophy of cosmology, some background in physics, and a commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry.
Participants will be awarded an honorarium of $2500 for the three weeks to cover expenses. There will also be some travel grants available. Participants will be expected be in residence from June 23-July 14 in UCSC housing.
Applications for the summer school should consist of:
A short letter describing interests in philosophy of cosmology and current research and a current CV. To be considered applications should be sent by email March 1 to
Professor Barry Loewer [email protected]
For more details about the Philosophy of Cosmology Project please go to http://philocosmology.rutgers.edu/
