Tessera
Folgen

Jim Weatherall

@jamesowenweatherall.com

Philosopher, physicist, mathematician / Chair of LPS @ UC Irvine / EiC of Philosophy of Science / Poultry enthusiast fancier / Irish Step Dancer

218 Posts5717 Follower381 Folgt
jb manchak@manchak.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Not sure who needs to hear this today but determinism is not a mysterious metaphysical notion. If you or a loved one are struggling with haecceities, hang in there and read this paper. You got this! (new work with Hans Halvorson and @jamesowenweatherall.com) onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Deterministic Theories

Determinism is (roughly) the thesis that the past determines the future. But efforts to define it precisely have exposed deep methodological disagreements. Standard possible-worlds formulations of de...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

jb manchak@manchak.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Had an absolute blast writing this paper with Thomas, Hans, and @jamesowenweatherall.com! GR turns out to be way more deterministic than previously appreciated. The past determines the future not only up to isomorphism but up to *unique* isomorphism! 🤯

British Journal for the Philosophy of Science@thebjps.bsky.social · 10mo ago

Just accepted: Determinism and Asymmetry in General Relativity – J B Manchak, Thomas Barrett, Hans Halvorson & James Weatherall Abstract in alt text or read the paper here: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/... #philsci #philsky

ABSTRACT. This article concerns the question of which collections of general relativistic spacetimes are deterministic relative to which definitions. We begin by considering a series of three definitions of increasing strength due to Belot. The strongest of these definitions is particularly interesting for spacetime theories because it involves an asymmetry condition called `rigidity' that has been studied previously in a different context by Geroch. We show how Belot's strongest definition is connected to a formal result emphasized by Weatherall. We then go on to explore other (stronger) asymmetry conditions that give rise to other (stronger) forms of determinism. We introduce a number of definitions of this type and clarify the relationships between them and the three considered by Belot. We show that there are collections of general relativistic spacetimes that satisfy much stronger forms of determinism than previously known. We also highlight a number of open questions.
Jim Weatherall@jamesowenweatherall.com · 11mo ago

I love this interview Nathan Ballantyne just posted with Pen Maddy. Pen is one of my all-time favorite philosophers (and most influential mentors). This captures her outlook and personality beautifully. www.the-workbench.ca/interviews/p...

Penelope Maddy’s Workbench - The Workbench

A writer’s world is often invisible from the outside unless they let you in. Sometimes when a sentence, paragraph, or essay strikes you as forceful or elegant, you might try to reverse engineer the au...

the-workbench.ca

Jim Weatherall@jamesowenweatherall.com · last yr.

Very excited for this summer school on my forthcoming book with Chris Smeenk, The Aims and Structure of Cosmological Theory!! The book is very nearly finished. Let us know if you'd like to give feedback on a draft. www.usi.ch/en/education...

Summer School: The Aim and Structure of Cosmological Theory

A number of challenging questions arise in contemporary cosmology, and philosophers can contribute constructively to answering them. Over the past century cosmologists have debated whether, for exampl...

usi.ch

Jim Weatherall@jamesowenweatherall.com · last yr.

Information dynamics on Twitter are incredible right now. Israel and Iran are both very good at viral disinformation, and it is easy to find bubbles where everyone is convinced each side is definitely winning. Plus the red-pilled, conspiracy-curious right is split in two and arguing like mad.

Jim Weatherall@jamesowenweatherall.com · last yr.

@bostonreview.bsky.social just published a Forum on a recent (critical) post-mortem of US COVID policy, with responses from me and @cailinmeister.bsky.social, along with @adamjkucharski.bsky.social, Adam Gaffney, and @jonathanpjwhite.bsky.social. V. interesting! www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-di...

How Did We Fare on COVID-19? - Boston Review

To restore public trust and prepare for the next pandemic, we need a reckoning with the U.S. experience—what worked, and what didn’t.

bostonreview.net