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Fourth Hermann Minkowski Meeting on the Foundations of Spacetime Physics
by Vesselin Petkov April 17, 2025

April 17, 2025

The Fourth Hermann Minkowski Meeting on the Foundations of Spacetime Physics, organized by the Minkowski Institute (Montreal), will be held in the famous Black Sea resort Albena (near Varna) from 15th to 18th September 2025: https://minkowskiinstitute.com/meetings/2025/ The Fourth Minkowski Meeting will again provide a relaxing environment and a friendly and stimulating atmosphere for physicists, mathematicians and historians of physics to report on their latest results in any research area related to the physics of spacetime and to exchange ideas on open questions in fundamental physics. Starting from this meeting the scientific organising committee also invites talks and encourages participation in the panel discussions on two research directions (for details see https://minkowskiinstitute.com/meetings/2025/call.html) - Whether gravitational phenomena can be fully accounted for by the non-Euclidean geometry of spacetime without the need to assume that gravitation is a physical interaction. - Whether spacetime physics can naturally explain both macroscopic (including gravitational) phenomena and microscopic (quantum) phenomena. Abstracts should be emailed to minkowski2025(a)minkowskiinstitute.com <mailto:minkowski2025@minkowskiinstitute.com> by 1 June 2025. They will be reviewed and notification of acceptance will be sent by 15 June 2025. Scientific Organizing Committee: Abhay Ashtekar (Penn State University) Valeria Ferrari (University of Rome "La Sapienza") David Garfinkle (Okland University) Robert Geroch (University of Chicago) James Isenberg (University of Oregon) Claus Kiefer (University of Cologne) Vesselin Petkov (Minkowski Institute, Montreal) Carlo Rovelli (Rotman Institute of Philosophy) Nick Woodhouse (University of Oxford, Clay Mathematics Institute) Vesselin Petkov One of the founders and current director of Minkowski Institute Montreal, Canada https://minkowskiinstitute.com <https://minkowskiinstitute.com/> vpetkov(a)minkowskiinstitute.com <mailto:vpetkov@minkowskiinstitute.com> Personal page: https://vesselinpetkov.com/

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Call for Applications: MCMP Summer School on Mathematical Philosophy
by John Dougherty March 6, 2025

March 6, 2025

The Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) is organizing the second edition of the “*Summer School for Widening Participation in Mathematical Philosophy*”, which will take place from 28th July to 1st August 2025 in Munich, Germany. The summer school continues a successful tradition, which began in 2014 with eight editions of the summer school on mathematical philosophy for female students and was expanded in 2024 to underrepresented groups. The 2025 “Summer School for Widening Participation in Mathematical Philosophy” is open to women and members of other groups that are under-represented in mathematical philosophy. These groups include under-represented gender identities, races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, people from low income and non-academic family backgrounds. The target level is master students and last year-bachelor students. The school's aim is to encourage students to engage with mathematical and scientific approaches to philosophical problems, and thereby help to redress the under-representation of women and other marginalized groups in mathematical philosophy. It offers the opportunity for study in an informal and interdisciplinary setting, for lively debate, and for the development of a network of students and professors interested in the application of formal methods to philosophy. The 2025 edition of the summer school will feature: -A lecture series by Dr. Francesca Boccuni <https://www.unisr.it/en/docenti/b/boccuni-francesca>(University Vita-Salute San Raffaele) on /Frege and New Logicism/; -A lecture series by Prof. Hilary Greaves <https://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/people/hilary-greaves>(Oxford) on /Introduction to Formal Epistemology and Formal Ethics/; -An evening lecture by Prof. Alyssa Ney <https://www.philosophie.lmu.de/en/directory-of-persons/contact-page/alyssa-…>(LMU); -Talks on mathematical philosophy by members of the MCMP; -Talks and discussion concerning diversity and the profession; -Poster presentations by the Summer School’s participants; -As well as social events and opportunities to explore Munich. The organizing committee consists of Nicola Bonatti, Cordelia Berz, John Dougherty, Levin Hornischer, Alessandra Marra, Toby C.P. Solomon. We welcome applications from women and members of other under-represented groups (including under-represented gender identities, races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, people from low income and non-academic family backgrounds) who want to specialize in mathematical philosophy. The school’s target level is master students and last year-bachelor students. *When*: 28 July - 1 August, 2025; *Where*: in-person, in Munich, Germany; *Application Deadline*: March 31, 2025; *Participation fee*:The participation fee is 80€. For LMU students: 50€. Depending on available funding, we will have the possibility to grant a small number of waivers; *How to apply*: Please submit a cv and a letter of motivation highlighting i) your interest in mathematical philosophy, ii) your belonging to the school’s target group, and (if applicable) iii) your motivation for requesting a waiver. For administrative reasons, waivers require the recipients to present a poster at the students’ poster session. The waivers will cover the recipients’ participation fees and the costs of printing the posters. Please submit your application material to https://www.efv.verwaltung.uni-muenchen.de/mcmp-summerschool <https://www.efv.verwaltung.uni-muenchen.de/mcmp-summerschool> MCMP/LMU students apply here: https://www.efv.verwaltung.uni-muenchen.de/mcmp-summerschool/ldap <https://www.efv.verwaltung.uni-muenchen.de/mcmp-summerschool/ldap>

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Call for Interest: MCMP Summer School on Mathematical Philosophy
by John Dougherty Jan. 15, 2025

Jan. 15, 2025

The Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP) is organizing the second edition of the “Summer School for Widening Participation in Mathematical Philosophy”, which will take place from 28th July to 1st August 2025 in Munich, Germany. The summer school continues a successful tradition, which began in 2014 with eight editions of the summer school on mathematical philosophy for female students and was expanded in 2024 to underrepresented groups. The 2025 “Summer School for Widening Participation in Mathematical Philosophy” is open to women and members of other groups that are under-represented in mathematical philosophy. These groups include under-represented gender identities, races and ethnicities, people with disabilities, people from low income and non-academic family backgrounds. The target level is master students and last year-bachelor students. The school's aim is to encourage students to engage with mathematical and scientific approaches to philosophical problems, and thereby help to redress the under-representation of women and other marginalized groups in mathematical philosophy. It offers the opportunity for study in an informal and interdisciplinary setting, for lively debate, and for the development of a network of students and professors interested in the application of formal methods to philosophy. The 2025 edition of the summer school will feature: -A lecture series by Dr. Francesca Boccuni (University Vita-Salute San Raffaele) on Frege and New Logicism; -A second lecture series TBA; -An evening lecture by Prof. Alyssa Ney (LMU); -Talks on mathematical philosophy by members of the MCMP. A Call for Participation will be distributed soon. The organizing committee consists of Nicola Bonatti, Cordelia Berz, John Dougherty, Levin Hornischer, Alessandra Marra, Toby C.P. Solomon.

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Call for Symposia: BSPS 2025
by John Dougherty Dec. 16, 2024

Dec. 16, 2024

Submission is now open for proposals for symposia to be presented at theBSPS2025 Annual Conference in Glasgow on 15^th -17^th July 2025. The deadline for submitting symposium proposals is *24^th January 2025*. *Overview* A symposium should involve several presenters, typically 3-4, organised around a topic of interest. Symposia may be on any topic in the philosophy of science. A maximum of 90 minutes of space on the programme will be allocated to successful symposia. The symposia will be selected by theBSPScommittee. The committee will strive for quality, variety, innovation, and diversity on the programme; ideally the programme will reflect the full range of current work in the philosophy of science. Priority will be given to symposia featuring at least one early career scholar. For the purposes of this call, a person is an early career scholar if at least one of the following criteria apply: (i) they are a PhD student; (ii) their PhD was awarded no more than five years ago (excluding any career breaks); (iii) they have never held a permanent academic position. Symposia that make connections with, or include, working scientists are warmly invited. We will not consider ‘Author Meets Critics’ sessions, but topical sessions that build upon recently published books are acceptable. Current members of theBSPScommittee may not feature in symposia, whether as organisers, presenters or non-presenting co-authors. *Instructions* Proposals must include sufficient supporting material to permit the committee to evaluate the quality and interest of the symposium. Proposals for symposia should include: * The title of the proposed symposium * A short descriptive summary of the proposal (100-200 words) * A description of the topic and a justification of its current importance to the discipline (500-1000 words) * Titles and abstracts of all papers, with 250-500 words for the title and abstract of each paper * A list of participants and either an abbreviated curriculum vitae or short biographical description (not to exceed 1 page) for each participant, including any non-presenting co-authors. * Institutional affiliation and e-mail addresses for all participants, including any non-presenting co-authors. * A note indicating which, if any, participants are early career scholars. *Deadline and dates* The deadline for submitting symposium proposals is *24^th January 2025*. Authors will be informed of the committee’s decisions around 14^th February 2025. Please see important information below onBSPSpolicy regarding multiple submissions. *Submission* Proposals for symposia should be submitted via email as one pdf file to the programme organiser, Ali Boyle (a.boyle2(a)lse.ac.uk <mailto:a.boyle2@lse.ac.uk>). *Rules for Acceptance* No one will be permitted to present more than once atBSPS2025. Thus, if a symposium proposal in which you are a presenting author is accepted, you may not submit a contributed paper for which you are the presenting author. Commentators that are part of symposia are considered to be presenting authors. A scholar may appear as co-author on more than one paper or symposium talk, but may present atBSPS2025 only once. Any individual can be part of only one symposium proposal in which they are a presenting author. Note that this policy excludes the practice of being a presenting author for more than one symposium proposal and subsequently choosing to present in only one symposium if multiple proposals are accepted. If an accepted symposium subsequently loses participants, maintaining acceptance will become contingent upon the symposium organiser developing satisfactory alternatives to maintain the quality and coherence of the committee. All questions about submissions should be directed in the first instance to the programme organiser, Ali Boyle (a.boyle2(a)lse.ac.uk <mailto:a.boyle2@lse.ac.uk>).

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Minkowski Institute - Call for Participation
by Vesselin Petkov Oct. 23, 2024

Oct. 23, 2024

Dear Colleagues, Minkowski Institute invites colleagues, working in areas related to the foundations and nature of spacetime, to participate in a meeting, which will address and deal with a disturbingly unprecedented (on two counts) situation in fundamental physics: It appears that the reality of spacetime is an experimental fact (as Minkowski de facto demonstrated), i.e., it appears experimentally confirmed that the concept of spacetime represents a real four-dimensional world with time as the fourth dimension. What makes this experimental support for the reality of spacetime unprecedented is that the experiments, which confirmed the kinematic relativistic effects, would be impossible if the world were not four-dimensional. To understand why this is so, it is sufficient only to see in Minkowski’s paper “Space and Time” that length contraction is impossible in a three-dimensional world. What also constitutes an unprecedented situation in fundamental physics is that, so far, most physicists have not addressed even Minkowski’s own arguments for the reality of spacetime; they simply ignored them arguing (at best) that the concept of spacetime is “just a description” and that “the question of the reality of spacetime belongs to philosophy”?! (both “justifications” for ignoring the question of the reality of spacetime are incorrect). However, as we all (in theory) know, physics, particularly fundamental physics, does not work in that way (by avoiding fundamental issues) and cannot advance by ignoring arguments, especially given that those arguments are firmly based on the experimental evidence to such an extent that experiments would be impossible if those arguments were wrong. Addressing Minkowski’s arguments for the reality of spacetime is of crucial importance for physicists because the physics of a three-dimensional world is fundamentally different from the physics of a four-dimensional world: - In a three-dimensional world physics deals with motions and interactions of three-dimensional particles / bodies. - In a four-dimensional world physics deals with interrelations between worldlines (or worldtubes in the case of extended bodies), as Minkowski explained, and “static” deformations of curved (non-geodesic) worldtubes because there is no dynamics in spacetime; it is incorrect even to say that a particle follows a timelike geodesic worldline because in spacetime the particle itself is a timelike geodesic worldline. The proposed meeting can become one of the biennial Minkowski meetings on the foundations of spacetime physics (https://www.minkowskiinstitute.com/meetings/) We are willing to co-organize such a meeting with other institutions. If interested and have any suggestions, please reply to this message or to mi(a)minkowskiinstitute.com. Best wishes, Vesselin Petkov One of the founders and current director of Minkowski Institute Montreal, Canada https://minkowskiinstitute.com <https://minkowskiinstitute.com/> vpetkov(a)minkowskiinstitute.com <mailto:vpetkov@minkowskiinstitute.com> Personal page: http://vesselinpetkov.com <http://vesselinpetkov.com/>

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16 October - Huw Price: Side-stepping the Rhinoceros: Copernican Pragmatism and Quantum Entanglement
by John Dougherty Oct. 9, 2024

Oct. 9, 2024

Dear all, Next week, the Logic and Philosophy of Science Colloquium at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy will be given by Huw Price, and may be of interest to subscribers of this list. The details are as follows: Talk: Huw Price (Cambridge) 16 October, 16:00 CEST, Ludwigstr. 31, ground floor, Room 021. > Side-stepping the Rhinoceros: Copernican Pragmatism and Quantum > Entanglement > > > In philosophy, as in science, it is often important to pay close > attention to the peculiarities of our own standpoint or perspective. > This move is particularly congenial to pragmatists, keen to expose > what William James called 'the trail of the human serpent'. A century > earlier, it was at the heart of Kant’s Copernican Revolution. > > > This talk, based on joint work with the physicist Ken Wharton, applies > this Copernican move to the understanding of quantum entanglement. > Entanglement is often regarded as the most puzzling feature of the > quantum world. Writing about its mysteries, Roger Penrose puts it like > this. > > > The first mystery is the phenomenon itself. How are we to come to > terms with quantum entanglement and to make sense of it in terms of > ideas that we can comprehend, so that we can manage to accept it as > something that forms an important part of the workings of our actual > universe? (Penrose 2004) > > > We propose an answer to Penrose’s question. It takes the relevant > peculiarity of our perspective on the world to be the fact that we can > often control it. Once we ‘side-step’ this perspective, and the > contingent physical facts on which it depends, entanglement turns out > to be explicable using notions familiar from causal modelling: it is a > special sort of ‘selection artefact’, or 'collider bias'. The > explanation seems to have been missed because the peculiarity of our > ordinary standpoint has not previously been taken into account. > > > The talk is based on joint work with Ken Wharton, accessible here: > https://arxiv.org/abs/2406.04571 > Best, John -- John Dougherty Assistant Professor Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy Lehrstuhl für Wissenschaftstheorie Fakultät für Philosophie, Wissenschaftstheorie und Religionswissenschaft Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Ludwigstraße 31 80539 München, Deutschland

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Asst Prof job at Cambridge HPS
by John Dougherty Aug. 27, 2024

Aug. 27, 2024

Dear all (with apologies for cross-posting), The History and Philosophy of Science Department at Cambridge are advertising for an Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Science and Technology, with a particular interest in "candidates with expertise in the philosophy of the physical sciences, in the philosophy of technology, and/or on topics with relevance to current social issues." The job ad and further particulars can be viewed here: https://www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/47824/. Deadline is 15 October 2024, and start date is 1 September 2025; candidates are required to have completed their PhD before the start date. Enquiries should be directed to Ms Francesca Anthony, Departmental Administrator, at administrator(a)hps.cam.ac.uk. All the best Neil -- Neil Dewar University Associate Professor Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge Staff Fellow Trinity Hall, University of Cambridge

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Seventh spacetime conference - extended registration deadline
by Vesselin Petkov Aug. 5, 2024

Aug. 5, 2024

[Apologies for eventual cross-posting] Dear Colleagues, The seventh spacetime conference will commemorate the 115th anniversary of the publication (in 1909) of Minkowski's 1908 world-view-changing lecture "Space and Time," which presented the novel ideas of the spacetime structure of the world and the four-dimensional physics of spacetime. It is organized by Minkowski Institute (Montreal) and will be held in the famous Black Sea resort "Albena" (near Varna, Bulgaria) from 16 to 19 September 2024: https://minkowskiinstitute.com/conferences/2024/ To have a better idea of where the conference will be held, you can have a look at pictures taken during the third Minkowski Meeting last September (also held in Albena): https://minkowskiinstitute.com/meetings/2023/pictures.html The Scientific Organizing Committee invites papers from physicists, philosophers of physics and philosophers on any topic related to the nature and ontology of spacetime. There will be a Panel Discussion on Open Questions in Spacetime Physics (including on time flow) and hopefully a special session "Minkowski's actual and intended contributions to spacetime physics" to mark the 160th anniversary of the birth of Hermann Minkowski (1864-2024). Extended abstracts of between one and two pages should be emailed to 2024conference(a)minkowskiinstitute.com. Scientific Organizing Committee: Valia Allori (University of Bergamo) James Binkoski (Dartmouth College) Carolyn Brighouse (Occidental College, Los Angeles) Karen Crowther (University of Oslo) Erik Curiel (University of Bonn) Nina Emery (Mount Holyoke College and UMass Amherst) Robert Geroch (University of Chicago) John B. Manchak (University of California, Irvine) Vesselin Petkov (Minkowski Institute, Montreal) James Read (University of Oxford) Carlo Rovelli (Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy, Marseille, France) Anguel Stefanov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) On behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee, Vesselin Petkov One of the Founders and current Director of Minkowski Institute Montreal, Canada https://minkowskiinstitute.com vpetkov(a)minkowskiinstitute.com Personal page: http://vesselinpetkov.com/

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Reminder: Seventh Spacetime Conference
by Vesselin Petkov May 7, 2024

May 7, 2024

[Apologies for eventual cross-posting] Dear Colleagues, The seventh spacetime conference will commemorate the 115th anniversary of the publication (in 1909) of Minkowski's 1908 world-view-changing lecture "Space and Time," which presented the novel ideas of the spacetime structure of the world and the four-dimensional physics of spacetime. It is organized by Minkowski Institute (Montreal) and will be held in the famous Black Sea resort "Albena" (near Varna, Bulgaria) from 16 to 19 September 2024: https://minkowskiinstitute.com/conferences/2024/ To have a better idea of where the conference will be held, you can have a look at pictures taken during the third Minkowski Meeting last September (also held in Albena): https://minkowskiinstitute.com/meetings/2023/pictures.html The Scientific Organizing Committee invites papers from physicists, philosophers of physics and philosophers on any topic related to the nature and ontology of spacetime. Suggestions for special sessions on specific topics are welcome. We hope there will be sufficient interest in a special session "Minkowski's actual and intended contributions to spacetime physics" to mark the 160th anniversary of the birth of Hermann Minkowski (1864-2024). Extended abstracts of between one and two pages should be emailed to 2024conference(a)minkowskiinstitute.com by 1 June 2024. Submissions will be reviewed and notification of acceptance will be sent by 15 June 2024. A volume with selected (peer-reviewed) papers will be published by Minkowski Institute Press (https://minkowskiinstitute.com/mip/books/) - an academic publisher run by academics for academics - which has published 81 books so far; the latest volume with selected talks: https://www.minkowskiinstitute.com/mip/books/2023volume.html Scientific Organizing Committee: Valia Allori (University of Bergamo) James Binkoski (Dartmouth College) Carolyn Brighouse (Occidental College, Los Angeles) Karen Crowther (University of Oslo) Erik Curiel (University of Bonn) Nina Emery (Mount Holyoke College and UMass Amherst) Robert Geroch (University of Chicago) John B. Manchak (University of California, Irvine) Vesselin Petkov (Minkowski Institute, Montreal) James Read (University of Oxford) Carlo Rovelli (Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy, Marseille, France) Anguel Stefanov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) On behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee, Vesselin Petkov One of the founders and current director of Minkowski Institute Montreal, Canada https://minkowskiinstitute.com vpetkov(a)minkowskiinstitute.com Personal page: https://vesselinpetkov.com/

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Call for Papers: Seventh Spacetime Conference
by Vesselin Petkov Feb. 22, 2024

Feb. 22, 2024

Dear Colleagues The seventh spacetime conference will commemorate the 115th anniversary of the publication (in 1909) of Minkowski's 1908 world-view-changing lecture "Space and Time," which presented the novel ideas of the spacetime structure of the world and the four-dimensional physics of spacetime. It is organized by Minkowski Institute (Montreal) and will be held in the famous Black Sea resort "Albena" (near Varna, Bulgaria) from 16 to 19 September 2024: https://minkowskiinstitute.com/conferences/2024/ To have a better idea of where the conference will be held, you can have a look at pictures taken during the third Minkowski Meeting last September (also held in Albena): https://minkowskiinstitute.com/meetings/2023/pictures.html The Scientific Organizing Committee invites papers from physicists, philosophers of physics and philosophers on any topic related to the nature and ontology of spacetime. Suggestions for special sessions on specific topics are welcome. We hope there will be sufficient interest in a special session to mark the 160th anniversary of the birth of Hermann Minkowski (1864-2024) "Minkowski's actual and intended contributions to spacetime physics." Extended abstracts of between one and two pages should be emailed to 2024conference(a)minkowskiinstitute.com by 1 June 2024. Submissions will be reviewed and notification of acceptance will be sent by 15 June 2024. Scientific Organizing Committee: Valia Allori (University of Bergamo) James Binkoski (Dartmouth College) Carolyn Brighouse (Occidental College, Los Angeles) Karen Crowther (University of Oslo) Nina Emery (Mount Holyoke College and UMass Amherst) Robert Geroch (University of Chicago) John B. Manchak (University of California, Irvine) Vesselin Petkov (Minkowski Institute, Montreal) James Read (University of Oxford) Carlo Rovelli (Centre de Physique Théorique de Luminy, Marseille, France) Anguel Stefanov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) On behalf of the Scientific Organizing Committee, Vesselin Petkov Minkowski Institute Montreal, Canada https://minkowskiinstitute.com vpetkov(a)minkowskiinstitute.com Personal page: http://vesselinpetkov.com/

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