Space and time do not exist, fundamentally
Christian Wuthrich
Abstract:The nature of space and time have been of perennial interest to philosophers, often leading to fruitful engagement with other disciplines. In the talk, I shall explore its engagement with physics. The next revolution in the physics of spacetime--after relativity--involves quantum theories of spacetime, or "quantum gravity". Outrageously, many approaches to quantum gravity suggest that space and time are not fundamental ingredients of the world. Instead, they "emerge" from deeper physics that does not rely on, or even permit, the (fundamental) existence of space and time. Surely, if true, this shatters our current conception of the universe and our place within it, along with many central philosophical ideas. In this talk, I will try to convince you that this radical claim deserves to be taken seriously and urge that philosophers engage with this latest revolution in spacetime physics.