Summer School 2025: The Aim and Structure of Cosmological Theory

Instructors Chris Smeenk (Western Ontario), James Owen Weatherall (UC Irvine)

Dates June 23-27, 2025

Schedule, practical information and CfA usi.ch/cosmology

For any queries [email protected]

Description

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 example, this field requires a distinctive methodology due to the unusual nature of its subject matter. In what sense is cosmology a “special case,” in terms of its aims, the nature of cosmological theories, or the ability to establish theories empirically? What, if anything, constrains theorizing about the early universe or regions of space and time so remote as to be beyond our observational ken? When should observational anomalies be taken as evidence that existing theory is incorrect, and when do they signal the discovery of new entities consistent with existing theory? How should we understand “spacetime geometry” in alternative theories of gravitation, or in theories according to which spacetime “emerges”? This summer school will provide a survey of several central questions, with some topics explored in more depth. The organizing theme of the summer school will be a new book manuscript by Smeenk & Weatherall called The Aim and Structure of Cosmological Theory. In addition to that manuscript, we will discuss background literature, alternative positions, and adjacent topics in other areas of philosophy of physics and philosophy of science.