[PhilPhys] Workshop "Parts and Wholes in Physics", Leiden March 22 -26 2010

[Uffink, J.B.M. (Jos)]

Dear all 

(Apologies for multiple postings)

This is to draw your attention to an upcoming workshop  at the Lorentz
Center in Leiden.

Note that there is no fee to participate, but the number of participants
is limited. 
So if you intend to participate,  be quick to register.

Best wishes,  Jos Uffink 



(See description below or check the website 

http://www.lorentzcenter.nl/lc/web/2010/379/info.php3?wsid=379

**************************

Part and Whole in Physics
from 22 Mar 2010 through 26 Mar 2010
  
 
 
Description and aim of the workshop

 

Western philosophy began by asking the question "What is everything made
of?" Today many look to physics for an answer. But the question has two
presuppositions. It presupposes that physical objects are organized into
levels, and that this hierarchy is founded on entities of no more than a
few basic kinds. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together
prominent physicists and philosophers in an intense but informal
interdisciplinary atmosphere to investigate how well the two
presuppositions hold up in the light of contemporary physics and
philosophy. 

           

High energy physicists often portray their work as a search for the
ultimate building blocks of matter, but recent work by philosophers of
physics has cast doubt on the abilities of the quantum field theories of
high energy physics to provide such ultimate building blocks, in the
form of elementary particles or strings on the one hand, or of field
values on the other. If this is right, contemporary physics has no
uncontroversial candidates for basic building blocks of a compositional
hierarchy. This situation may be temporary, but are there any
methodological or metaphysical reasons why it cannot be expected to be
permanent? Does progress in physics require that we either find or seek
basic building blocks? Is there any reason why the world must either
have basic building blocks or else take the form of an infinite
compositional hierarchy? The workshop will evaluate possible answers to
these questions.

           

Recently, many philosophers have been trying to improve our
understanding of the part-whole relation and the compositional structure
of the world. Some agree that objects form a compositional hierarchy but
disagree about its number of levels-one (monism), a few, many or an
infinite number (no fundamental "atomic" level). Some analyses are so
abstract as not to depend on details of contemporary science, but other
philosophers do draw on their knowledge of physics. But they then tend
to work with an impoverished stock of examples and a limited
understanding of relevant physics. Philosophers seeking to learn from
findings of physical science stand to benefit greatly from close
interaction with its knowledgeable practitioners.

            

Another goal will be to deepen our appreciation of the compositional
relations among the objects of various theories of physics and biology,
and to assess the implications for our philosophical understanding of
the part-whole relation. The relation between any ultimate building
blocks and objects like the quasi-particles that figure in theories of
condensed matter physics is not simply that the former compose the
latter. The conditions required for a complex system like an organism or
living cell to arise from simpler molecular elements are the subject of
intense study by biophysicists. This is an opportune moment to bring
together high energy, condensed matter and bio-physicists in the company
of philosophers to develop a more illuminating account of the relations
between such objects and their elementary constituents.

 

One model for such an account has been developed by those trying to
account for the emergence of a (quasi)-classical realm within quantum
theory. This views typical macroscopic objects as relatively stable and
enduring patterns that emerge within the structure of the quantum state
of the world. On such a view, the world need not form a compositional
hierarchy, with or without ultimate parts. Perhaps all physical objects
emerge as structures of a world with no proper parts-a view recently
advocated on quite independent grounds by some philosophers.

 

We intend to bring about mutual appreciation among philosophers and
physicists of the relevance and significance of each others' work on
matters of common concern. We seek not only formulation of common ground
but also clarification of reasons for continued disagreement to be
pursued more profitably as a result of the understanding achieved during
this meeting.

 


 
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