Research
Research
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My research concerns the philosophy of nature, broadly conceived. I think about the unity of the natural sciences, the unity of mind and nature, and the unity of nature and divine being.
My research concerns the philosophy of nature, broadly conceived. I think about the unity of the natural sciences, the unity of mind and nature, and the unity of nature and divine being.
The natural philosophy of the 17th century conceived the world in terms of tiny corpuscules which are governed by arbitrary and universal laws. In so doing, it divided the mind from the natural world and disenchanted nature. I want to see if the New Aristotelianism, which conceives the world in terms of substances that have causal powers, can put everything back together.
The natural philosophy of the 17th century conceived the world in terms of tiny corpuscules which are governed by arbitrary and universal laws. In so doing, it divided the mind from the natural world and disenchanted nature. I want to see if the New Aristotelianism, which conceives the world in terms of substances that have causal powers, can put everything back together.
Hylomorphism in Modern Science
Hylomorphism in Modern Science
Should scientists be materialists? According to hylomorphists, the physical world explored by the natural sciences is not reducible to one kind of material stuff of which everything else is made: the fundamental objects of scientific inquiry are compounds of both matter and form. I have been investigating the metaphysics of hylomorphism and its application to modern science, both in the philosophy of physics and the philosophy of biology.
Publications
Publications
Monograph
Hylomorphism, Cambridge University Press, accepted, forthcoming in 2023
Edited Collection
Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, Routledge, 2017 , co-edited with R.C. Koons and N.Teh
Papers in Journals
“Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers”, The Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming, 2023
“Myth of the Physical Given”, Revue philosophique de Louvain, 119(1), 151-164, 2022
“What’s the matter with Super-Humeanism?”, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 72, 2, 2021, 893-911
“Cosmic hylomorphism: a powerist ontology of quantum mechanics”, European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 11, 28, 2021
Chapters in Edited Collections
“Cosmic hylomorphism vs Bohmian dispositionalism: implications of the ‘no-successor problem’” with J. Pemberton, in Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy, Springer, 2022
“Toppling the pyramids: physics without physical state monism”, with S. Horsley in Time, Powers and Free Will, A. Marmodoro, C. Austin, A. Roselli, Eds., Springer, 2022
“From Quantum Physics to Classical Metaphysics” in Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, W. Simpson, R. Koons, J. Orr, Eds., Routledge, 2021, 21-65
“Reflections on science, theology and the new Aristotelianism” with R. Koons & J. Orr in Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, W. Simpson, R. Koons, J. Orr, Eds., Routledge, 2021, 1-18
“Half-Baked Humeanism” in Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, W. Simpson, R. Koons, N. Teh, Eds., Routledge, 2017, 123-145
“Reflections on contemporary science and the new Aristotelianism” with R.C. Koons and N.J. Teh, in Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, W. Simpson, R. Koons, N. Teh, Eds., Routledge, 2017, 1-11
“Knowing nature: beyond reduction and emergence” in Knowing Creation, Eds. A. Torrance, T. McCall, Zondervan, 2017, 237-260
Minding your Matter (Leverhulme Trust Project, begins in 2024)
Minding your Matter (Leverhulme Trust Project, begins in 2024)
Where do minds fit in the physical world? Modern physics is widely believed to provide an account of the world in terms of a closed system of particles or fields governed by laws which lack purpose or goals. This leaves unresolved questions concerning how the conscious and goal-directed behaviour of minded, macroscopic systems is supposed to emerge. I am exploring hylomorphic models that build goal-directedness back into the cosmos as a whole, in which macroscopic systems are ‘minded’ by participating in the mentality of the cosmic whole. I am also exploring hylomorphic models in which certain macroscopic systems have strongly emergent minds. Does the world instantiate both a cosmic and macroscopic minds?
Publications
Publications
- Leverhulme Trust Project, beginning in 2024
Quantum Powers
Quantum Powers
Do quantum systems have causal powers? According to some philosophers, the world disclosed by our best physics consists fundamentally of relations rather than of things which have intrinsic properties or exercise causal powers. I have been investigating the metaphysics of causal powers and their application to different interpretations of quantum mechanics.
Publications
Publications
Edited Collection
Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, Routledge, 2017 , co-edited with R.C. Koons and N.Teh
Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, Routledge, 2021 , co-edited with R.C. Koons and J. Orr
Papers in Journals
“Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers”, The Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming, 2023
“Myth of the Physical Given”, Revue philosophique de Louvain, 119(1), 151-164, 2022
“Cosmic hylomorphism: a powerist ontology of quantum mechanics”, European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 11, 28, 2021
Chapters in Edited Collections
“Cosmic hylomorphism vs Bohmian dispositionalism: implications of the ‘no-successor problem’” with J. Pemberton, in Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy, Springer, 2022
“Toppling the pyramids: physics without physical state monism”, with S. Horsley in Time, Powers and Free Will, A. Marmodoro, C. Austin, A. Roselli, Eds., Springer, 2022
“From Quantum Physics to Classical Metaphysics” in Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, W. Simpson, R. Koons, J. Orr, Eds., Routledge, 2021, 21-65
“Reflections on science, theology and the new Aristotelianism” with R. Koons & J. Orr in Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, W. Simpson, R. Koons, J. Orr, Eds., Routledge, 2021, 1-18
“Half-Baked Humeanism” in Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, W. Simpson, R. Koons, N. Teh, Eds., Routledge, 2017, 123-145
“Reflections on contemporary science and the new Aristotelianism” with R.C. Koons and N.J. Teh, in Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, W. Simpson, R. Koons, N. Teh, Eds., Routledge, 2017, 1-11
“Knowing nature: beyond reduction and emergence” in Knowing Creation, Eds. A. Torrance, T. McCall, Zondervan, 2017, 237-260
Quantum Forces
Quantum Forces
Do macroscopic quantum forces reduce to microscopic forces? Many of the sticky forces we experience between macroscopic bodies -- such a parking ticket and a car wind screen, for example -- as well the attractive forces that keep chemical compounds together, contain a component which has to be modelled using quantum mechanics. Some physicists think these are ultimately reducible to microscopic interactions. I have been investigating the physics of macroscopic quantum forces in nature and the metaphysics of microphysical reductionism.
Publications
Publications
Monograph
Surprises in Theoretical Casimir Physics: Quantum Forces in Inhomogeneous Media, Springer, 2014
Textbook
Forces of the Quantum Vacuum: an introduction to Casimir Physics, World Scientific, 2015 , co-edited with U. Leonhardt
Papers in Journals
“Ontological aspects of the Casimir Effect", Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, Vol. 48, Part A, 2014, 84-88
“Divergence of the Casimir stress in inhomogeneous media” with S. Horsley & U.Leonhardt, Physics Review A, 059901, 2013
“The Cutoff-dependence of the Casimir force within an inhomogeneous medium” with S.Horsley, Physics Review A 88, 013833, 2013
“The Casimir force in a compressive transformation medium”, Physics Review A, 063852, 2013
“Exact solution for the Casimir stress in a spherically symmetric medium” with U. Leonhardt, Physics Review D, 081701(R), 2011
Chapters in Edited Collections
"Toppling the pyramids: physics without physical state monism”, with S. Horsley in Time, Powers and Free Will, A. Marmodoro, C. Austin, A. Roselli, Eds., Springer, 2022.
“Casimir forces at the cutting edge” with U. Leonhardt, R. Decca, S.Y. Buhmann in Forces of the Quantum Vacuum: an introduction to Casimir Physics, W. Simpson, U. Leonhardt, Eds., World Scientific, 2015, 227-43
Recent Activities
Recent Activities
Why 'Middle-Sized' Matters to Science & Philosophy
Why 'Middle-Sized' Matters to Science & Philosophy
A Colloquium Concerning the Nature and Reality of Middle-Sized Things
A wide-ranging three-day discussion in Oxford at different locations, including a workshop at All Souls College, in which we debated what kind of philosophy best upholds the nature and reality of 'middle-sized things' -- such as scientists and their instruments of measurement. Our discussions spanned topics in the Philosophy of Physics and the Philosophy of Mind, Metaphysics, and Science & Religion.
Photo at All Souls College, Oxford, 2024
Organisers: William Simpson, Robert Koons
From the left: George Ellis, Robert Koons, William Simpson.
On the screen: Lee Smolin. From the Left: Philip Goff, Sean Carroll, William Simpson.
Panpsychism and Modern Physics
Panpsychism and Modern Physics
A Discussion Panel on Panpsychism and Modern Physics
Marist College, New York State, USA, 2023
Photo by Nicolas Kuske.
Organisers: Philip Goff, Andrei A. Buckareff
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