11 found
Order:
  1.  55
    Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science.William M. R. Simpson, Robert Charles Koons & Nicholas Teh (eds.) - 2017 - New York: Routledge.
    The last two decades have seen two significant trends emerging within the philosophy of science: the rapid development and focus on the philosophy of the specialised sciences, and a resurgence of Aristotelian metaphysics, much of which is concerned with the possibility of emergence, as well as the ontological status and indispensability of dispositions and powers in science. Despite these recent trends, few Aristotelian metaphysicians have engaged directly with the philosophy of the specialised sciences. Additionally, the relationship between fundamental Aristotelian concepts—such (...)
    No categories
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   13 citations  
  2.  71
    What’s the Matter with Super-Humeanism?William M. R. Simpson - 2021 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 72 (3):893-911.
    Esfeld has proposed a minimalist ontology of nature called ‘super-Humeanism’ that purports to accommodate quantum phenomena and avoid standard objections to neo-Humean metaphysics. I argue that Esfeld’s sparse ontology has counterintuitive consequences and generates two self-undermining dilemmas concerning the nature of time and space. Contrary to Esfeld, I deny that super-Humeanism supports an ontology of microscopic particles that follow continuous trajectories through space.
    Direct download (4 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   9 citations  
  3.  59
    Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers.William M. R. Simpson - 2023 - Journal of Philosophy 120 (8):401-420.
    The wave function of quantum mechanics can be understood in terms of the dispositional role it plays in the dynamics of a distribution of matter in three-dimensional space (or four-dimensional spacetime). There is more than one way, however, of specifying its dispositional role. This paper considers Suárez’s theory of ‘Bohmian dispositionalism’, in which the particles are endowed with their own ‘Bohmian dispositions’, and Simpson’s theory of ‘Cosmic Hylomorphism’, in which the particle configuration comprises a hylomorphic substance which has an intrinsic (...)
    No categories
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   2 citations  
  4.  28
    Whose Hylomorphism? Which Theory of Prime Matter?Matej Moško & William M. R. Simpson - 2024 - Ancient Philosophy Today 6 (1):65-91.
    Medieval interpretations of hylomorphism, in which substances are conceived as metaphysical composites of prime matter and substantial form, are receiving attention in contemporary philosophy. It has even been suggested that a recovery of Aquinas's conception of prime matter as a ‘pure potentiality’, lacking any actuality apart from substantial form, may be expedient in hylomorphic interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we consider a recent hylomorphic interpretation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the theory of Cosmic Hylomorphism, which does not explicitly invoke (...)
    No categories
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   1 citation  
  5. Cosmic hylomorphism: A powerist ontology of quantum mechanics.William M. R. Simpson - 2021 - European Journal for Philosophy of Science 11 (1):1-25.
    The primitive ontology approach to quantum mechanics seeks to account for quantum phenomena in terms of a distribution of matter in three-dimensional space and a law of nature that describes its temporal development. This approach to explaining quantum phenomena is compatible with either a Humean or powerist account of laws. In this paper, I offer a powerist ontology in which the law is specified by Bohmian mechanics for a global configuration of particles. Unlike in other powerist ontologies, however, this law (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark   4 citations  
  6.  54
    Prime Matter and Modern Physics.William M. R. Simpson - 2024 - Ancient Philosophy Today 6 (1):1-5.
    Medieval interpretations of hylomorphism, in which substances are conceived as metaphysical composites of prime matter and substantial form, are receiving attention in contemporary philosophy. It has even been suggested that a recovery of Aquinas's conception of prime matter as a ‘pure potentiality’, lacking any actuality apart from substantial form, may be expedient in hylomorphic interpretations of quantum mechanics. In this paper, we consider a recent hylomorphic interpretation of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the theory of Cosmic Hylomorphism, which does not explicitly invoke (...)
    No categories
    Direct download (5 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  7.  16
    Cosmopsychism and the Laws of Physics: A Hylomorphic Perspective.William M. R. Simpson - 2024 - Journal of Consciousness Studies 31 (9):132-157.
    I outline a hylomorphic account of physical reality in which the cosmos as a whole has mental properties which explain its nomological order. According to this theory, the cosmos is directed in its temporal development toward certain ends or goals which it intends, and these ends are immanent to the cosmos rather than being imposed upon it. My object in doing so is to argue that, contrary to Sean Carroll (2021), a view of physical reality as having intrinsically mental aspects (...)
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  8.  3
    David Charles, The Undivided Self: Aristotle and the Mind-Body Problem.William M. R. Simpson - 2024 - Ancient Philosophy Today 6 (2):264-270.
    No categories
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  9. Neo-Aristotelian metaphysics and the theology of nature.William M. R. Simpson, Robert C. Koons & James Orr (eds.) - 2021 - New York, NY: Routledge.
    This book explores the relationship between a scientifically updated Aristotelian philosophy of nature and a scientifically engaged theology of nature that cuts across interdisciplinary boundaries. It features original contributions by some of the best scholars engaging with Aristotelianism in contemporary metaphysics, philosophy of science, and philosophical theology. Despite the growing interest in Aristotelian approaches to contemporary philosophy of science, few metaphysicians have engaged directly with the question of how a neo-Aristotelian metaphysics of nature might change the landscape for theological discussion (...)
    Direct download  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  10.  36
    Ontological aspects of the Casimir Effect.William M. R. Simpson - 2014 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 48 (1):84-88.
    No categories
    Direct download (2 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark  
  11.  51
    Reconsidering causal powers: historical and conceptual perspectives: edited by Benjamin Hill, Henrik Lagerlund, and Stathis Psillos, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2021, pp. 306, £65.00 (hb), ISBN: 9780198869528. [REVIEW]William M. R. Simpson - 2021 - British Journal for the History of Philosophy 29 (5):958-960.
    The concept of ‘causal powers’ as principles of necessary change, once derided by mainstream philosophers in the thrall of David Hume, has made a dramatic comeback and seems to be here to stay. The...
    Direct download (3 more)  
     
    Export citation  
     
    Bookmark