Alyssa Ney, Professor of Philosophy, LMU Munich

Office              Geschwister-Scholl-Platz 1

Email               alyssa.ney@lmu.de

Hours               by appointment

Research Areas

Metaphysics, Philosophy of Physics, Philosophy of Mind, General Philosophy of Science

Biography

Since July 1, 2024, I am Professor and Chair of Metaphysics in the Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, and Religious Studies at LMU Munich. I received my MA and PhD in Philosophy from Brown University, my MS in Physics from UC Davis, and my BS in Physics and Philosophy from Tulane University. Before coming to LMU, I was Professor of Philosophy at UC Davis, and before that, the University of Rochester. My research focuses primarily on fundamentality, the unity of science, and the interpretation of quantum theories. 

Note for prospective PhD students: there is a procedure in place for applying for such a position. Please consult the instructions on the Chair's website.

New work 

"Is the Universe Fundamentally a Density Matrix?" with Saakshi Dulani, forthcoming in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

"Branching (Almost) Everywhere and All At Once," to appear in Local Quantum Mechanics: Everett, Many Worlds, and Reality, Oxford University Press.

"Do Our Observations Make Reality Happen?" Nature. June 2025.

Publications (cv)(philpapers)

Books

• The Fundamentality of Physics. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

• Local Quantum Mechanics: Everett, Many Worlds, and Reality. edited volume. Oxford University Press, forthcoming.

• The World in the Wave Function: A Metaphysics for Quantum Physics. Oxford University Press, 2021. Winner of the Patrick Suppes Prize from the American Philosophical Society.

  • Reviewed in [Philosophical Review] by David Wallace, [Mind] by James Read, [Philosophy of Science] by Mario Hubert, and [Analysis] by Tim Maudlin.

• Metaphysics: An Introduction. Second Edition. Routledge, 2023 (First Edition 2014).

  • Second Edition reviewed in [Teaching Philosophy] by Jeremiah Joven Joachin and Roshan Uttamachandani.

• The Wave Function: Essays in the Metaphysics of Quantum Mechanics. co-edited with David Z Albert. Oxford University Press, 2013.

  • Reviewed in [NDPR] by Jeff Barrett, [Philosophy of Science] by Craig Callender, and [Metascience] by Decio Krause.

Selected Articles

• "The Argument from Locality for Many Worlds Quantum Mechanics," Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming.

• "Three Arguments for Wave Function Realism," European Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2023.

• "From Quantum Entanglement to Spatiotemporal Distance," Philosophy Beyond Spacetime, Oxford University Press, 2021.

• "The Fundamentality of Physics: Completeness or Maximality?" Oxford Studies in Metaphysics Vol.12, 2020.

• "Mind,"Handbook of Metaphysical Grounding, Routledge, 2020.

• "Are the Questions of Metaphysics More Fundamental Than Those of Science?" Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, 2020.

• "Separability, Locality, and Higher Dimensions in Quantum Mechanics," Current Controversies in Philosophy of Science, Routledge, 2020.

• "Finding the World in the Wave Function: Some Strategies for Solving the Macro-object Problem," Synthese, 2020.

• "Wave Function Realism in a Relativistic Setting," The Foundation of Reality, Oxford University Press, 2020.

• "On Phenomenal Functionalism about the Properties of Virtual and Non-virtual Objects," Disputatio, 2019.

• "The Politics of Fundamentality," What is Fundamental? Springer, 2019.

• "Locality and Wave Function Realism," Quantum Worlds, Cambridge University Press, 2019.

• "Physicalism, Not Scientism," in Scientism: Prospects and Problems, Oxford University Press, 2018.

• "Microphysical Causation and the Case for Physicalism," Analytic Philosophy, 2016.

• "Grounding in the Philosophy of Mind: A Defense," in Scientific Composition and Metaphysical Ground, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

• "Fundamental Physical Ontologies and the Constraint of Empirical Coherence," Synthese, 2015.

• "A Physicalist Critique of Russellian Monism," in Consciousness in the Physical World, Oxford University Press, 2015.

• "Does An Adequate Physical Theory Demand a Primitive Ontology?" with Kathryn Phillips. Philosophy of Science, 2013.

• "The Causal Contribution of Mental Events," in New Perspectives on Type Identity, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

• "The Status of Our Ordinary Three Dimensions in a Quantum Universe." Nous, 2012.

• "Neo-Positivist Metaphysics." Philosophical Studies. 2012.

• "Physical Causation and Difference-making." British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 2009.

• "Defining Physicalism," Philosophy Compass, 2008.

• "Physicalism as an Attitude," Philosophical Studies, 2008.

• "Can An Appeal to Constitution Solve the Exclusion Problem?" Pacific Philosophical Quarterly, 2007.

• "Physicalism and Our Knowledge of Intrinsic Properties," Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 2007.