Research profile

Chair of Metaphysics (Prof. Dr. Alyssa Ney)

Metaphysics of Fundamental Physics

Arguably it is our most highly confirmed physical theories that are best-placed to provide true descriptions of fundamental reality. But what do these physical theories tell us about the fundamental nature of our world? Much of the research at the Chair of Metaphysics is dedicated to answering this question.

Research focuses especially on quantum theories and what ontological lessons they provide about the nature of the world. In particular, research at the Chair asks: what are the lessons one should draw from the startling phenomenon of quantum non-locality? Must one accept the reality of "spooky action at a distance", or are there other alternatives?

Research at the Chair develops a variety of accounts, including especially the possibility of hidden dimensions, many worlds, and novel field accounts of reality. In addition to exploring questions about the ontology of quantum mechanics, research activity in the Chair investigates questions about the emergence of spacetime, the nature of light and electromagnetic fields, and what our most fundamental physical theories imply about the issues of determinism, causality, and probability.

Fundamentality and the Unity of Science

What does it mean to say a theory or set of objects is metaphysically fundamental? Do we have a right to claim that some scientific theories are more fundamental than others? What is the relation between claims like this and reductionism? What role can philosophy play in uncovering the fundamental nature of reality? Is there value in promoting the fundamentality of some theories over others, in promoting reductionism and the unity of science?

Research in the Chair of Metaphysics addresses all of these questions. Most recently, this research is aimed at developing the claim that while physics is, in an importance sense, metaphysically fundamental, and so not just another "special science", the sense in which physics is fundamental does not imply a kind of reductionism that would diminish the autonomy of other sciences. A new project linking the Chair of Metaphysics with the Chair of Philosophy of Science will explore the history of the Unity of Science movement and its connection with political activism in times of crisis.

History of Natural Philosophy

The history of science is a history of disputes over the best way to make sense of the world, the kinds of explanations that should be deemed acceptable, clear, unbiased, convincing, and the kinds of entities that a scientific theory should be able to appeal to. Research at the Chair of Metaphysics is especially concerned with the history of materialism and disputes over whether our best scientific theories of reality must make appeal to entities that are in some sense immaterial or nonmechanical.

It is also engaged with questions about the meaning of materialism, and how this position evolved over the centuries from classical atomism through the present day. What are the commitments of a materialist natural philosophy over time and how do these relate to the commitments of a naturalist or mechanistic philosophy? Current research at the Chair is focused on the way these questions were handled in the early modern period through Kant, and how these disputes may provide lessons for our engagement with scientific theories in the present day.