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Spacetime Functionalism Conference
April 1 - April 2
Spacetime Functionalism Conference
Cathedral of Learning 1008, April 1st-2nd
Spacetime Functionalism holds that spacetime is spacetime by virtue of the role it plays with respect to other physics. It promises to help with certain interpretational puzzles, including some of those arising in quantum gravity. But the exact kind of functionalism involved, the extent to which it is helpful and the role itself are all contested. This conference aims to make progress on these questions.
Speakers:
Eleanor Knox (King’s College London)
Tushar Menon (Cambridge)
Christian Wuthrich (Geneva)
Guy Hetzroni (Open University of Israel)
Alex Murphy (University College London)
Katie Robertson (Birmingham)
Jim Weatherall (UC Irvine)
David Albert (Columbia)
Schedule:
Saturday April 1st
9:00: Breakfast
9:30 -10:45: Eleanor Knox “Spacetime Functionalism: an opinionated overview”
10:50 – 12:05: Chris Wüthrich “The limits of Lewisian functionalism in quantum gravity”
12:05 – 1:40: Lunch (own arrangements)
1:40 – 2:55: Guy Hetzroni “Spacetime functionalism and physical theorizing: the case of general relativity”
3:00 – 4:15: Jim Weatherall “The SEP, Minimal Coupling, and All That”
4:15-4:45: Coffee
4:45-6:00: Dave Baker “Spacetime Without Observers”
Sunday April 2nd
9:15: Breakfast
9:45-11:00: Alexander Murphy “Space, Time, and Spacetime: Semantic Problems for Functionalists”
11:05-12:20: Tushar Menon “Spacetime functionalists should be inferentialists”
12:20 – 2:00: Lunch (own arrangements)
2:00-3:15: Katie Robertson “Black hole thermodynamics: a crisis of identity”
3:15 – 3:45: Coffee
3:45 – 5:00: David Albert “Tribulations of Functionalism”
5:05-6:00: Round Table Discussion
Please Register Here: Spacetime Functionalism Conference Registration – Google Forms
If you are planning on attending the conference from out of town, we recommend checking out the Wyndham or Hilton for hotel options. Both are conveniently located close to the Cathedral where the conference will be held.
Please submit any questions to spacetimefunctionalism@gmail.com.