Philosophy of Cosmology, Miscellaneous

ABSTRACT It can be summarized as the Why of Doing philosophy and the How of Doing Philosophy. For this purpose I deal with the notion of Consciousness. Not, to develop or advocate yet another idea about this notion, nor to present another speculation about how everything is conscious or that all thinI deal with a number of meta-philosophical issues and ideas. gs are physical, or any of the possible positions in between these two poles. I merely mention this issue so (...) as to illustrate what and how philosophy will deal with it. I then deal with some of the possible reasons and factors why certain individuals feel the intense need, motivation and obligation to philosophize. I focus on the Western tradition of philosophy and on original- and creative philosophers. In other words, I do not deal with those involved in academic institutions and professionals. The reason for this being that they teach, study, criticize and use the ideas of other thinkers and for academic related reasons, rather than those of original- and creative thinkers. I then deal with ideas about the nature and origins of our universe, as one possible universe, in a possible multiverse. Again, the reason for this is not to support or advocate any of the models, but to try and identify what is philosophically involved and to show how one will deal with them philosophically by questioning, argumentation and reasoning. Many people think when they talk about their every day lives, relationships and other aspects of their minute, little worlds, they are doing philosophy. Some of the fashionable issues that are favoured at the moment are: racism, gender, feminism, men and colonialism. Such people think their attitudes, beliefs and opinions about these flavour of the month topics are philosophy. Let them have their obsessions and concerns, let them turn them into academic subjects and qualifications, let them do post-doctorate research and write endless books about them, but do not involve me. How can I do philosophy as - there are things I do not know, there are things that I do notknow of and there are things that will be know and thought in future that I will never be aware of. Multi-sensory, embodied, consciousness (or mind) and minded or conscioussed, multi-sensory bodies of living organisms can said to be poles of a continuum (2 perspectives). Mind and body are often viewed in isolation, as unintegrated, dualistic phenomena, thus leading to false problems and -isms. I deal with issues concerning the origins of our universe for examplethe mediocrity principle and the anthropic principle, fine-tuning hypothesis. These three ideas, principles or hypotheses are of interest for a number of philosophical reasons, so I will mention what they are about. (shrink)

Cosmological questions (e.g., how far the world extends and how it all began) have occupied humans for ages and given rise to numerous conjectures, both within and outside philosophy. To put to rest fruitless speculation, Kant argued that these questions move beyond the limits of human knowledge. This article begins with Kant’s doubts about cosmology and shows that his arguments presuppose unreasonably high standards on knowledge and unwarranted assumptions about space-time. As an analysis of the foundations of twentieth-century cosmology reveals, (...) other worries about the discipline can be avoided too if the universe is modeled using Einstein’s general theory of relativity. There is now strong observational support for one particular model. However, due to underdetermination problems, the big cosmological questions cannot be fully answered using this model either. This opens the space for more speculative proposals again (e.g., that the universe is only part of a huge multiverse). (shrink)

The theoretical prediction of Higgs boson was arguably one of the most important contributions in particle physics in the 20th century, with significant implications for modern cosmology. Its reported discovery in 2012 was celebrated as one of the most significant scientific achievements of all times. The fierce public discourse that followed was at large ignited by the media-hyped nickname “God particle” attributed to Higgs boson. The debate regarding the science-religion relation reinvigorated once again and plenty theologically informed views were expressed. (...) In this paper, I take into consideration the authoritative views expressed by the Catholic Church and the Greek-Orthodox Church and I discuss them in comparison with each other, as well as in juxtaposition with other views expressed in the public discussion on the issue, in an attempt to draw philosophically interesting inferences. (shrink)

According to Einstein, a universal time does not exist. But what if time is different than what we think of it? Cosmic Microvawe Background Radiation was accepted as a reference for a universal clock and a new time concept has been constructed. According to this new concept, time was tackled as two-dimensional having both a wavelength and a frequency. What our clocks measure is actually a derivation of the frequency of time. A relativistic time dilation actually corresponds to an increase (...) in the wavelength of time. At the point where time wavelength and time frequency is equal, where light is positioned, quantum-world and macro- world are seperated. Gravity was redefined with respect to time and the new two dimensional time fabric of the universe was speculated to be the source of dark energy causing the universe to expand. According to this new point of view quantum realm and macro-world can be better understood. This new time concept provide a basis for our understanding of quantum gravity and provide the long-sought answers to well known problems of it. A prediction of the presented theory is that the universe will expand at various rates at different regions due to the fact that particular surroundings will create different gravities and cause a different gravity- time wavelength effect yielding various time delays for calculating this rate of expansion. (shrink)

Singularitățile la care se ajunge în relativitatea generală prin rezolvarea ecuațiilor lui Einstein au fost și încă mai sunt subiectul a numeroase dezbateri științifice: Există sau nu, singularități? Big Bang a fost o singularitate inițială? Dacă singularitățile există, care este ontologia acestora? Este teoria generală a relativității o teorie care și-a arătat limitele în acest caz? Cartea include o prezentare a aspectelor specifice din teoria clasică newtoniană, teoria specială a relativității și mecanica cuantică, apoi o detaliere a singularităților care rezultă (...) în relativitatea generală, a aspectelor specifice ale găurilor negre și orizontul evenimentelor, inclusiv dezbaterea despre Big Bang ca singularitate inițială, și argumentele cosmologice în favoarea existenței singularităților. Se evidențiază problemele filosofice de încadrare ontologică a singularităților în general și a găurilor negre în special, despre argumentul găurii pus în evidență de Einstein, și argumentele prezentate de oamenii de știință pro și contra singularităților. Studiul singularităților este încă la început. Fizica găurilor negre și filosofia singularităților cosmologice sunt domenii încă neexplorate. În fața singularităților, știința își recunoaște limitele. Aici poate ajuta foarte mult filosofia. -/- CUPRINS: -/- 1 Gravitația - Antichitate - Era modernă - - Teoria lui Newton despre gravitație - - Explicații mecanice ale gravitației - - Relativitatea generală - - Gravitația și mecanica cuantică - 1.1 Mecanica newtoniană - - Geometria gravitației - 1.2 Relativitatea specială - - Postulatele teoriei speciale a relativității - - Dilatarea timpului - - Contracția lungimii - - Impulsul relativist (Cvadri-impuls) - - Echivalența masă-energie (E = mc2) - - Masa în relativitatea specială - - Cauzalitatea - 1.3 Relativitatea generală - - Metrica relativității generale - - Structura cauzală (și geometria globală) - - Orizonturi - - Singularități - 1.3.1 Ontologia relativității generale - 1.4. Mecanica cuantică - 1.4.1 Gravitația cuantică - - Graviton - - Dilaton - - Teoria corzilor - - Gravitația cuantică în bucle - - Alte abordări - 1.5 Teorii mixte - 1.5.1 Gravitația cuantică în bucle - - Aplicații fizice ale GCB - - - Entropia găurii negre - - - Radiația Hawking în GCB - - - Stea Planck - - - Cosmologică cuantică în bucle - - - Fenomenologia GCB - 1.6. Teorii unificatoare - 1.6.1 Teoria corzilor - - Teoria-M - - Găuri negre - - - Formula Bekenstein-Hawking - - - Derivarea în cadrul teoriei corzilor - - Corespondența AdS/CFT - - - Cosmologie - - Istorie - - - Rezultatele inițiale - - - Prima revoluție a supercorzilor - - - A doua revoluție a supercorzilor - - Critici - - - Numărul de soluții - - - Independența de fundal - - - Sociologia științei 2. Big Bang - Prezentare generală - - Radiația de fond - - - Misiunile de studiu al radiației fundalului cosmic - Cronologie - - Singularitate - - Inflația și bariogeneza - - Răcirea - - Formarea structurii - - Accelerarea cosmică - Caracteristici ale modelului - - Expansiunea spațiului - - Orizonturi - Istorie - - Etimologie - - Dezvoltare - Dovezi observaționale - - Legea lui Hubble și expansiunea spațiului - - Radiația fundalului cosmic cu microunde - - Abundența elementelor primordiale - - Evoluția și distribuția galactică - - Nori de gaze primordiale - - Alte linii de dovezi - - Observații viitoare - Probleme și aspecte conexe în fizică - - Asimetria barionică - - Energia întunecată - - Materia întunecată - - Problema orizontului - - Monopoli magnetici - - Problema planeității - Cauza - Destinul final al universului - Prejudecăți - Speculaţiile - - Energia întunecată - Big Bang ca singularitate 3. Singularități gravitaționale - Existența - - Argumente împotriva existenței - Interpretare - Tipuri - - Conice - - Curbate - - Singularitate goală - Entropia - 3.1 Singularitățile în relativitatea generală - 3.2 Gaura de vierme - - Călătorii cu viteze mai mari decât viteza luminii şi călătorii în timp - - Universul nostru, într-o gaură neagră - - Concluzii - 3.3 Filosofia singularităților 4. Găuri negre - Istorie - Aspecte conceptuale - Argumentul găurii - Proprietăți și structură - - Proprietăți fizice - - Orizontul evenimentelor - - Singularitate - - Sferă fotonică - - Ergosfera - - Cea mai interioară orbită circulară stabilă - Formarea și evoluția - - Sfârșitul unei stele este începutul unei găuri negre - - Colapsul gravitațional - - - Găurile negre primordiale și Big Bang-ul - - Coliziuni de mare energie - - Creşterea - - Evaporarea - - Pitici și giganți - Dovezi observaționale - - Detectarea undelor gravitaționale de la fuzionarea găurilor negre - - Mișcări corecte de stele care orbitează Săgetător A * - - Acreția materiei - - - Binare cu raze X - - - Inactivitatea și fluxul de acumulare dominat de advecție - - - Oscilații cvasi-periodice - - - Galactic nuclei - - Microlentile (propus) - - Alternative - Probleme nerezolvate - - Entropia și termodinamica - - Paradoxul pierderii informației - - Paradoxul paravanului de protecție - Ontologia găurilor negre - 4.1 Orizontul evenimentelor - - Orizontul evenimentelor unei găuri negre - - Orizontul evenimentelor cosmice - - Orizontul aparent al unei particule accelerate - - Interacțiunea cu un orizont al evenimentului - - Dincolo de relativitatea generală 5. Cosmologia - Radiații gravitaționale - Viteza gravitației - Formularea valorii inițiale - 5.1 O analogie Bibliografie Referințe Despre autor - Nicolae Sfetcu - - De același autor - - Contact Editura - MultiMedia Publishing. (shrink)

Gravitational singularities in general relativity are spacetime locations where the gravitational field becomes infinite. Scalar invariant curves of spacetime include a measure of matter density. Some physicists and philosophers believe that because the density of matter tends to become infinite in singularity, spacetime laws are no longer valid there. A gravitational singularity almost universally accepted in astrophysics and cosmology as the earliest state of the universe, is the Big Bang. In this case also, the known laws of physics are no (...) longer valid. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24285.87523. (shrink)

Propounded in relation to a peculiar mode in the view of an oscillating or cyclic universe, the concept of Return of Power, or of ontic recurrence as further increase in ontic Power signifies the determination of the existing entity according to its own selective recurrence as dialectically exceeding a previous status. Based thus upon the assumption that the actual ontological existence of the entity lies in its own potentiated recurrence (for it is maintained that only what is able to return (...) to itself as potentiated signifies actual ontological existence) and that an ontic eternal return can only occur in terms of further Power, this notion embodies the culminating phase within change as an ultimate overcoming of a previous ontic status or situation respecting the category Power as a primary criterion within a constantly increasing Real (as Power, precisely). An ontic selective ultimate event respecting becoming as a general increment of the Real, this concept exceeds both the ontic dispersion in nothingness of the linear time and the identical ontic repeatability of the Eternal Return of the Same, the latter insofar as asserting the perennial return of man's own status of powerlessness, and as rendering accordingly impossible any actual (dialectical) transition to a well-defined superior ontic phase. (shrink)

A number of general theories of physics provide a model for the fundamental rules that govern our universe, becoming a structural framework to which the new discoveries must conform. The theory of relativity is such a general theory. The theory of relativity is a complex theoretical framework that facilitates the understanding of the universal laws of physics. It is based on the curved space-time continuum fabric abstract concept, and it is well suited for interpreting cosmic events. More so, a general (...) theory based on abstract concepts and imagination facilitates the emergence of countless new extravagant theories. A new simplified theory of the natural world is necessary, a simple theory that provides a verifiable framework on which new discoveries can be integrated. The paper describes a view of the abstract time/space concept, and also a very simple model of our ever-changing universe. Views of physicists, mathematicians, chemists, engineers and of course philosophers have to be all in harmony with such a theory. We leave in a beautiful, uniform, and logical world. We live in a world where everything probable is possible. Contact email: gondork@yahoo.com . (shrink)

Readers familiar with the workhorse of cosmology, the hot big bang model, may think that cosmology raises little of interest about time. As cosmological models are just relativistic spacetimes, time is understood just as it is in relativity theory, and all cosmology adds is a few bells and whistles such as inflation and the big bang and no more. The aim of this chapter is to show that this opinion is not completely right...and may well be dead wrong. In our (...) survey, we show how the hot big bang model invites deep questions about the nature of time, how inflationary cosmology has led to interesting new perspectives on time, and how cosmological speculation continues to entertain dramatically different models of time altogether. Together these issues indicate that the philosopher interested in the nature of time would do well to know a little about modern cosmology. (shrink)

Philosophical considerations have been essentially involved in the origin and development of the steady-state cosmological theory. These considerations include an explicit uniformitarian methodology and implicit metaphysical views concerning the status of natural laws in a changing universe. I shall examine the foundations of SST by reconstructing its early history. Whereas the strong uniformitarian methodology of SST found no support in the subsequent development of cosmology, the idea of a possible influence the global structure of the universe may have on the (...) laws of physics operative in it has been assimilated by the standard big bang theory as it made its remarkable progress in recent decades. (shrink)

I discuss how modern cosmology illustrates under-determination of theoretical hypotheses by data, in ways that are different from most philosophical discussions. I emphasise cosmology's concern with what data could in principle be collected by a single observer ; and I give a broadly sceptical discussion of cosmology's appeal to the cosmological principle as a way of breaking the under-determination.I confine most of the discussion to the history of the observable universe from about one second after the Big Bang, as described (...) by the mainstream cosmological model: in effect, what cosmologists in the early 1970s dubbed the ‘standard model’, as elaborated since then. But in the closing Section 4, I broach some questions about times earlier than one second. (shrink)

During the last decade new developments in theoretical and speculative cosmology have reopened the old discussion of cosmology's scientific status and the more general question of the demarcation between science and non-science. The multiverse hypothesis, in particular, is central to this discussion and controversial because it seems to disagree with methodological and epistemic standards traditionally accepted in the physical sciences. But what are these standards and how sacrosanct are they? Does anthropic multiverse cosmology rest on evaluation criteria that conflict with (...) and go beyond those ordinarily accepted, so that it constitutes an “epistemic shift” in fundamental physics? The paper offers a brief characterization of the modern multiverse and also refers to a few earlier attempts to introduce epistemic shifts in the science of the universe. It further discusses the several meanings of testability, addresses the question of falsifiability as a sine qua non for a theory being scientific, and briefly compares the situation in cosmology with the one in systematic biology. Multiverse theory is not generally falsifiable, which has led to proposals from some physicists to overrule not only Popperian standards but also other evaluation criteria of a philosophical nature. However, this is hardly possible and nor is it possible to get rid of explicit philosophical considerations in some other aspects of cosmological research, however advanced it becomes. (shrink)

This paper is a short introduction to a special issue on philosophy of cosmology, published in the May 2014 issue of Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics. I briefly introduce the philosophy of cosmology, and then provide a short outline of the contents of the papers in the special issue. The contributors are George Ellis, Dominico Giulini, Marc Lachièze-Rey, Helge Kragh, Jeremy Butterfield, Jean-Christophe Hamilton, Martín López-Corredoira, Brigitte Falkenburg, Robert Brandenberger and Chris Smeenk. I conclude with a few (...) remarks on the relationship between aesthetics and cosmology. (shrink)

Far from egalitarian, Galileo’s epistemology asserts an uncompromising hierarchy between science and Scripture — an idea he suggests originates with early Christian author Tertullian of Carthage. For Galileo, when the scientific data causes us to disagree with the apparent meaning of scripture, it is not the data that we discard nor is it the scientist whose word is subject to doubt. Rather, whenever a disagreement arises, we always reinterpret the Bible and Holy Fathers such that we can make them agree (...) with what the scientist observes. Galileo states, “[H]aving arrived at any certainties in physics, we ought to utilize these as the most appropriate aids in the true exposition of the Bible […], for these must be concordant with demonstrated truths” (183). In other words, we establish matters of fact first , and then decide what interpretations of scripture will maintain the truth of those facts, second. Given that Galileo’s method stands in radical opposition to the methods of the Church as carried out in the Inquisition following the Council of Trent (1563), it is not hard to understand why the Church felt threatened by him and thereby sought to repress his views. (shrink)

The philosophical implications of recent results in observational cosmology, especially concerning the evolutionary nature of our Universe and its high degree of isotropy, and of the possible existence of black holes, are discussed in the context of established or more recently proposed cosmological principles. We emphasize the borderline problem between science and speculation. We expect that scientifically 'admitted' questions will be more restricted in the future, whereas some philosophical concepts applied to the Universe might loose their exclusivity.

23 pages, no figure. Proceedings of "Philosophical Aspects of Modern Cosmology" held in Granada, Spain, 22-23 Sept. 2011. Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics ; doi:10.1016/j.shpsb.2013.02.002.

This paper follows up a debate as to the consistency of Newtonian cosmology. Whereas Malament has shown that Newtonian cosmology *is* not inconsistent, to date there has been no analysis of Norton’s claim that Newtonian cosmology *was* inconsistent prior to certain advances in the 1930s, and in particular prior to Seeliger’s seminal paper of 1895. In this paper I agree that there are assumptions, Newtonian and cosmological in character, and relevant to the real history of science, which are inconsistent. But (...) there are some important corrections to make to Norton’s account. Here I display for the first time the inconsistencies—four in total—in all their detail. Although this extra detail shows there to be several different inconsistencies, it also goes some way towards explaining why they went unnoticed for two hundred years. (shrink)

These selections from _Le système du monde_, the classic ten-volume history of the physical sciences written by the great French physicist Pierre Duhem, focus on cosmology, Duhem's greatest interest. By reconsidering the work of such Arab and Christian scholars as Averroes, Avicenna, Gregory of Rimini, Albert of Saxony, Nicole Oresme, Duns Scotus, and William of Occam, Duhem demonstrated the sophistication of medieval science and cosmology.

These preprints were automatically compiled into a PDF from the collection of preprints deposited on PhilSci-Archive in conjunction with the Workshop on Cosmology and Time at at Penn State.

The Big Bang is a myth, says Paul Brockelman in this fascinating look at the spiritual side of modern cosmology. But it is a myth in the best sense--a fully realized creation story, one that, for all its scientific origins, has the power to transform us spiritually. In Cosmology and Creation, philosopher and religious scholar Brockelman seeks to bridge the gap between the scientific and the spiritual, to bring together the head and the heart. We have isolated the two realms (...) from each other for so long, he argues, that we have begun to lose a mystical sense of our place in the universe. But Brockelman believes that contemporary physics has advanced far beyond the mechanical view of nature, as propagated in the Enlightenment; the cosmology of the Big Bang has fostered a new way of understanding existence itself. To illustrate, he examines creation myths of the past, showing how they transcend simple explanations of the world to provide a deeper understanding of what our lives mean. And the fifteen-billion-year tale of the universe embraced by scientific cosmology serves precisely the same purpose, Brockelman claims; it bears a close resemblance to classic creation myths--and, indeed, it can transform our inner relationship with nature. The new scientific cosmology, Brockelman argues, offers something never before seen in human history: a scientifically accurate understanding of the entire universe and a spiritual vision of a "wider order of being" to which we all belong. Passionate and provocative, Cosmology and Creation promises to spark a lively debate about the new links between science and religion. (shrink)