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We welcome applications for two post-doctoral fellowships in the
framework of a research grant from the Israel Science Foundation
(ISF) titled: <em>Wide reductive physicalism: classical and quantum
aspects</em> (see abstract below).
<p>The fellowships will be granted for one year with a possibility
of extension up to 4 years depending on the ISF approval and the
following conditions:<br>
The fellows are expected to co-author with the two PIs at least
one research paper that will be submitted for publication in a
journal in August of the fellowship’s year, present their results
in an international conference or workshop, and participate in
discussions groups led by the PIs. If these conditions will be
met, the fellowship can be extended for another year (under the
same conditions). The topic of the co-authored paper will be in
the framework of the research proposal and will be subject to the
approval of the PIs.</p>
<p>In the first year the total sum of the fellowship will be around
40,000 NIS (depending on the actual period of the fellowship). The
sum includes travel expenses and health insurance. Applicants
should have a PhD at the commencement of the fellowship or in
special circumstances should have submitted their PhD thesis to
the university. The first year of the fellowship will terminate on
30 September 2026.</p>
<p>Applications should include:</p>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Personal details</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Curriculum vitae</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>List of publications</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A short abstract of the doctoral thesis and/or a recent
publication</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>A research proposal related to the topics of the research (as
described in the abstract below)</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>One letter of recommendation, sent directly to the PIs</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>Applications (no forms are required) should be sent
electronically in <strong>one PDF format only</strong> to:<br>
📧 <a href="mailto:orly.shenker@mail.huji.ac.il"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">orly.shenker@mail.huji.ac.il</a> ;
<a href="mailto:meir@research.haifa.ac.il"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">meir@research.haifa.ac.il</a></p>
<p>Applications must be received by <strong>10 November 2025.</strong></p>
<p>Orly Shenker, Philosophy Department, The Hebrew University of
Jerusalem<br>
Meir Hemmo, Philosophy Department, University of Haifa</p>
<hr>
<p><strong>Abstract:</strong> <em>Wide Reductive Physicalism:
Classical and Quantum Aspects</em></p>
<p>The proposed research is part of an ongoing project, which aims
to develop a wide reductive physicalist approach towards all the
special sciences (including psychology and the cognitive sciences)
on the basis of a mind-brain identity theory and contemporary
fundamental physics (we call it Wide Flat Physicalism; FlatPhys
for short). Wide FlatPhys is a widening extension of FlatPhys in
which we address questions we didn’t hitherto address, which we
believe will lead to a breakthrough in philosophy of mind and the
cognitive sciences and the philosophy of the special sciences.</p>
<p>The main conjecture of FlatPhys is that everything is reductively
physical and describable in physical terms (in the same reductive
way that entropy and the Second Law of thermodynamics are
accounted for in statistical mechanics). We start from results
obtained in our previous work concerning the reduction of
thermodynamics to mechanics by statistical mechanics (classical
and quantum) and the reduction of the laws and kinds of the
special sciences to fundamental physics.</p>
<p>The research is divided into three major topics:</p>
<p><strong>Topic 1</strong> concerns the role of the observer in
classical statistical mechanics. We proceed by investigating two
working hypotheses: the first one is that classical statistical
mechanics cannot be considered a complete theory without
introducing mental states (i.e., an observer). This hypothesis is
based on results we obtained in our approach to the foundations of
classical statistical mechanics (which attracted criticism).
However, we believe that we can settle down the question in
support of our conclusion. To this end, our second working
hypothesis is the following: the reduction of thermodynamics to
fundamental physics, even in the classical case, is possible if
and only if a strict mind-brain identity theory is the case. Given
our preliminary results of what reduction and identity mean, this
hypothesis implies that reducing thermodynamics to statistical
mechanics rules out non-reductive approaches to the mind (e.g.,
functionalism). This is a surprising result; and it uncovers
another unexpected fact: reducing thermodynamics to mechanics,
even in the classical case, requires a physical solution to the
hard problem of consciousness. This is a clear case in which
philosophy intertwines to set the physics straight, and vice
versa.</p>
<p><strong>Topic 2</strong> concerns the hard question of how to
account for semantics in a reductive physicalist approach. Our
main question is the following: in virtue of which physical facts
can a mental state, which in FlatPhys is a brain state, be about
some other state of affairs? To answer this question, we
investigate two alternative routes. We start by following
contemporary causal approaches to reference, which if successful,
could be adopted by FlatPhys. Causal approaches are intended to
show that causal interactions determine uniquely reference.
However, we show that in a physical world this is impossible since
causal interactions leave the referent of a brain state
indeterminate while the brain state, which in FlatPhys is
identical with mental content, is in fact determined (we call it
the problem of individuation of reference by the causal trigger).
Causation therefore leaves reference indeterminate, contrary to
our experience. We conjecture that this problem is insoluble by a
physical (and counterfactual) account of causation. Therefore, as
an alternative route we depart from the standard wisdom and
develop (what we call) a denialist approach. This approach
attempts to explain semantics away altogether by taking our mental
states to be literally in the “head”; they are not about anything.
A preliminary supporting result is our denialist approach to the
so-called psychological arrow of time. We showed in a previous
research that in a time-symmetric physics the experience of
temporal directionality can only be grounded in some non-temporal
in-brain asymmetry. No other asymmetry (in or outside the brain)
can bring about the psychological arrow.</p>
<p><strong>Topic 3</strong> addresses the quantum mechanical version
of FlatPhys. Here, the main question is the following. In the face
of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics, what are the
necessary conditions quantum theories should satisfy in order for
them to be candidates for the physical basis of FlatPhys (from
which everything is derivable). Our first condition is that the
solution to the measurement problem should not presuppose
primitive (brute) mental facts. That is, the measurement problem
should be solved before one introduces an observer into the
complete theory. Obviously this condition rules out from the start
(as is well known) mind-brain dualism (e.g., von Neumann and
Wigner). Our first working hypothesis is that an explicit FlatPhys
approach as part of physics filters out some other quantum
theories (e.g., Chalmers-McQueen) that prima facie don’t seem to
be dualist. Our second hypothesis is that FlatPhys can filter out
yet other quantum theories by considering the import of quantum
statistical mechanics. We conjecture that one can derive a no-go
theorem in quantum statistical mechanics that will rule out
certain quantum theories that seem to pass the first condition.</p>
<p>Finally, our proposed research has a high-risk-high-gain
potential. The objective of developing a full blown FlatPhys
approach is highly ambitious and addresses pressing open questions
in philosophy and the sciences. According to contemporary orthodox
wisdom, reductionism is considered improbable and in this sense
the project is highly risky. But given the substantial number of
preliminary results we already have, it seems to us that the
chances of success are in fact even higher, and moreover the
expected significance has a very high overall gain: we believe
that FlatPhys will contribute to the development of a balanced
equilibrium in the future of the special sciences and physics in a
way similar to the parallel and scientifically fruitful
development of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics.</p>
<p><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br>
</p>
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<div dir="ltr" style="direction: ltr;"><font
style="color:rgb(136,136,136)" face="arial, sans-serif">Meir
Hemmo</font>
<div style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); direction: ltr;"><font
face="arial, sans-serif">Professor</font></div>
<div style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); direction: ltr;"><font
face="arial, sans-serif">Philosophy Department</font></div>
<div style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); direction: ltr;"><font
face="arial, sans-serif">University of Haifa</font></div>
<div style="color: rgb(136, 136, 136); direction: ltr;"><font
face="arial, sans-serif">199 Aba Khoushy Ave.<br>
Haifa, Israel 3498838</font></div>
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href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0752-1269"
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