December 2012 - philphysmunich

Workshop on Laws of Nature Monday Dec. 17
by Mathias Frisch Dec. 10, 2012

Dec. 10, 2012

Laws of Nature Organized by the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP), LMU München, in cooperation with the Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS), TU München. According to the Mill-Ramsey-Lewis conception of laws of nature, the laws supervene on the "Humean mosaic" of non-modal particular matters of fact: the laws are the axioms of the deductive system that best combines simplicity and strength. This workshop explores recent developments in Best-System-accounts of laws. Is the notion of a "best system" an essentially pragmatic notion? Should we think of science as providing us with a single best system, that has the fundamental laws of physics as its axioms or as providing us with multiple best systems, corresponding to different domains and scientific disciplines? Are Best-System-accounts, and Humean accounts of laws more generally, metaphysically too"‘thin" to capture the explanatory role of laws? Date and Location Monday, 17 December 2012 Technische Universität München Arcisstr. 21 Room 1229 Speakers Helen Beebee (University of Birmingham) Craig Callender (University of California, San Diego) Michael Esfeld (Université de Lausanne) Mathias Frisch (University of Maryland, College Park) Carl Hoefer (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) Markus Schrenk (Universität Köln) Program Time Speaker Title 09:00 – 09:15 Welcome 09:30 – 10:15 Helen Beebee Ramsey vs. Lewis on conditionals and causation 10:30 – 11:30 Carl Hoefer Pragmatic Humeanism, Consistency and the Principal Principle 11:45 – 12:45 Mathias Frisch Why Physics Can't Explain Everything 12:45 – 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – 15:00 Michael Esfeld Humeanism and Dispositionalism in Quantum Physics 15:15 – 16:15 Markus Schrenk Trouble with Properties for Better Best Systems 16:30 – 17:30 Craig Callender New Developments of the Systems Theory of Laws 17:30 – 18:00 Discussion Mathias Frisch Associate Professor of Philosophy University of Maryland, College Park z. Zt. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

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Craig Callender this Friday, 4 pm
by Mathias Frisch Dec. 10, 2012

Dec. 10, 2012

Colloquiums Talk: Falling Through Time Prof. Craig Callender, UC San Diego. When: Fri, December 14, 4pm – 6pm Where: Ludwigstr. 31 // 2 room 225 Abstract: The idea that time flows is firmly entrenched in the manifest conception of time. Such is the strength of this feeling that many distinguished thinkers assume that positing a basic physical or metaphysical flow is the only action fully respecting it. I'll argue that this is a mistake. The cosmologist Gold emphasized that we need to explain the flow, asserting that “there can be a self-consistent set of rules that would give a beast this kind of phoney picture of time." While I don't think flow need be illusory -- instead it could be like color -- I want to take up this interdisciplinary explanatory project. Appealing to the hard facts of life in a relativistic world, our environments, and our psychology, I develop a theory of why "beasts" like us feel like we're falling through time. Mathias Frisch Associate Professor of Philosophy University of Maryland, College Park z. Zt. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

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Talk by Craig Callender at MCMP (Fri. 14th Dec.)
by Dardashti, Radin Dec. 6, 2012

Dec. 6, 2012

Talk: Craig Callender Title: Falling Through Time Friday December 14th Ludwigstr.31 /II room 225 Time: 4 to 6 pm Abstract: The idea that time flows is firmly entrenched in the manifest conception of time. Such is the strength of this feeling that many distinguished thinkers assume that positing a basic physical or metaphysical flow is the only action fully respecting it. I'll argue that this is a mistake. The cosmologist Gold emphasized that we need to explain the flow, asserting that “there can be a self-consistent set of rules that would give a beast this kind of phoney picture of time." While I don't think flow need be illusory -- instead it could be like color -- I want to take up this interdisciplinary explanatory project. Appealing to the hard facts of life in a relativistic world, our environments, and our psychology, I develop a theory of why "beasts" like us feel like we're falling through time.

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