Title: What Is the Natural World Made of? How Philosophy Meets Physics
By Mario Hubert (Caltech, Division of Humanities and Social Sciences)
Date: Wednesday March 23, 2022
Time: 1730-1900
Zoom: go to www.phil.bilkent.edu.tr
Abstract: I will give an introduction to the connection between physics and philosophy of physics. Although these two disciplines overlap, I argue that physics is often more interested in experimental predictions and practical applications, while the philosophy of physics often seeks to discover what the world is truly made of. I will then provide a detailed example from my own research in the philosophy of electromagnetism for how concrete physical models can inform us about the structure of the world.
About the speaker: Mario Hubert is the Howard E. and Susanne C. Jessen Postdoctoral Instructor in Philosophy of Physics at the California Institute of Technology. He received his PhD in philosophy at the University of Lausanne in 2017 and held postdoctoral positions at Columbia University and New York University sponsored by the Swiss National Science Foundation. In his research, Mario Hubert examines what modern physics tells us about the structure of the world and what limits humans face in finding out what the world is truly made of. He is particularly interested in using philosophical tools for understanding classical physics, electrodynamics, and quantum mechanics.