The Philosophy of Cosmology

This book addresses foundational questions raised by observational and theoretical progress in modern cosmology for a broad academic audience.

Khalil Chamcham (Edited by), Joseph Silk (Edited by), John D. Barrow (Edited by), Simon Saunders (Edited by)

9781107145399, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 13 April 2017

526 pages, 60 b/w illus. 10 tables
25.3 x 17.8 x 2.7 cm, 1.19 kg

'What is remarkable about this collection of chapters is that it offers a dialogue between two scientific communities, cosmologists/high energy physicists and philosophers of science, that unfortunately do not usually interact enough with each other. … It is not possible to do justice to the number of interesting ideas and proposals presented in this very rich book in a short review. … In summary, this book presents a collection of chapters written by some of the foremost experts in their respective fields. The most interesting of these chapters are those written by scientists who truly tried to build a bridge between philosophy of science and cosmology. Overall, this book is well worth reading as it contains many fascinating perspectives and ideas presented in a very accessible manner for the different communities involved in this project.' Xavier Calmet, Springer Nature

Following a long-term international collaboration between leaders in cosmology and the philosophy of science, this volume addresses foundational questions at the limit of science across these disciplines, questions raised by observational and theoretical progress in modern cosmology. Space missions have mapped the Universe up to its early instants, opening up questions on what came before the Big Bang, the nature of space and time, and the quantum origin of the Universe. As the foundational volume of an emerging academic discipline, experts from relevant fields lay out the fundamental problems of contemporary cosmology and explore the routes toward finding possible solutions. Written for graduates and researchers in physics and philosophy, particular efforts are made to inform academics from other fields, as well as the educated public, who wish to understand our modern vision of the Universe, related philosophical questions, and the significant impacts on scientific methodology.

Part I. Issues in the Philosophy of Cosmology: 1. The domain of cosmology and the testing of cosmological theories George F. R. Ellis
2. Black holes, cosmology and the passage of time: three problems at the limits of science Bernard Carr
3. Moving boundaries? – comments on the relationship between philosophy and cosmology Claus Beisbart
4. On the question why there exists something rather than nothing Roderich Tumulka
Part II. Structures in the Universe and the Structure of Modern Cosmology: 5. Some generalities about generality John D. Barrow
6. Emergent structures of effective field theories Jean-Philippe Uzan
7. Cosmological structure formation Joel R. Primack
8. Formation of galaxies Joseph Silk
Part III. Foundations of Cosmology: Gravity and the Quantum: 9. The observer strikes back James Hartle and Thomas Hertog
10. Testing inflation Chris Smeenk
11. Why Boltzmann brains do not fluctuate into existence from the de Sitter vacuum Kimberly K. Boddy, Sean M. Carroll and Jason Pollack
12. Holographic inflation revised Tom Banks
13. Progress and gravity: overcoming divisions between general relativity and particle physics and between physics and HPS J. Brian Pitts
Part IV. Quantum Foundations and Quantum Gravity: 14. Is time's arrow perspectival? Carlo Rovelli
15. Relational quantum cosmology Francesca Vidotto
16. Cosmological ontology and epistemology Don N. Page
17. Quantum origin of cosmological structure and dynamical reduction theories Daniel Sudarsky
18. Towards a novel approach to semi-classical gravity Ward Struyve
Part V. Methodological and Philosophical Issues: 19. Limits of time in cosmology Svend E. Rugh and Henrik Zinkernagel
20. Self-locating priors and cosmological measures Cian Dorr and Frank Arntzenius
21. On probability and cosmology: inference beyond data? Martin Sahlén
22. Testing the multiverse: Bayes, fine-tuning and typicality Luke A. Barnes
23. A new perspective on Einstein's philosophy of cosmology Cormac O'Raifeartaigh
24. The nature of the past hypothesis David Wallace
25. Big and small David Albert.

Subject Areas: Cosmology & the universe [PGK], History of science [PDX], Philosophy of science [PDA]