2025 Annual Philosophy of Physics Conferences

25 May 2025 - 28 May 2025

Empiricism and the Methodology of Modern Physics

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ZOOM LINK

May 25-26

The structure of theories and how they represent the natural world, through introducing basic principles and asserting the existence of unobserved entities, have been central questions in philosophy of science over the last century. Bill Demopoulos, George Smith, and Howard Stein all developed sophisticated versions of empiricism to address these questions, inspired in part by careful analysis of scientific practice.  All three acknowledged the centrality of measurement in evidential reasoning in physics, and argued that understanding this role properly requires moving past earlier accounts of methodology — such as the method of hypotheses, inference to the best explanation, partial interpretation, and structural isomorphism.  This conference will focus on work that considers the methodology of physics from a similar perspective, with an eye towards the development of a more satisfactory account of the structure and interpretation of physical theories.
Click here for the Philosophy of Physics Conference Poster.

Conference Schedule: Sunday, May 25 – WIRB Room #3000

9:15

Introductory remarks

9:30

Simon Saunders – Principle and constructive theories of physical probability, and Bell inequalities

10:45

Coffee break

11:00

Michael Cuffaro – Methodological Realism and Quantum Mechanics

12:15

Lunch

14:00

Molly Kao – Blind analysis as coherence testing

15:15

Coffee break

15:45

James Mattingly – Ideal Empiricism

17:00

End of conference

Conference Schedule: Monday, May 26 – WIRB Room #7110

9:00

Lydia Patton – Beyond the Background: Gravitational Waves and the Field Equations

10:15

Coffee Break

10:30

Miguel Ohnesorge – Newton’s Open Problem: The Troubled Microphysics of Gravitation

11:45

Christopher Pincock – Demopoulos on theories

13:00

Lunch

14:30

Michael Miller – Epistemic and Semantic Effective Realism

15:45

Coffee Break

16:00

James Weatherall – TBD

17:15

End of conference

For individuals traveling to London for the conference, we offer the following suggestions & general information:

Accommodations

Hotels close to campus include:

Transportation

Our local airport code is YXU (London, Ontario, Canada). It can sometimes be less expensive to fly into either Toronto or Detroit, then take an airport shuttle van (Robert Q) or bus (Flixbus) into London.

The London Transit Commission has several bus routes (2, 6, 9C, 10, 13, 31, 32, 33 and 34) that drop off somewhere on or near the university. Buses tend to run every 15 to 30 minutes (depending on the line, and day of the week). Visit the London Transit Commission website for bus routes and estimated bus arrival times.

Conference Location & Parking

The event will be held in the Western Interdisciplinary Research Building (WIRB), in Room 3000 on Day 1 and Room 7110 on Day 2. The Visual Arts parking lot (permit-only) is located between WIRB and the Labatt Visual Arts Building. Complimentary parking is available on campus on Sunday, May 25. However, on Monday, May 26, attendees are kindly asked to use one of the HONK Mobile or Pay & Display parking meters to park their vehicles.

Please refer to the campus parking map for the locations of available lots and meters.

Logic, Mathematics, and Physics Graduate Conference

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May 27-28

The Logic, Mathematics, and Physics (LMP) Graduate Conference at Western University is an annual event that aims to foster collaboration and critical engagement among graduate students researching the philosophies of physics, mathematics, and logic. The conference includes presentations from graduate students who have not yet defended their PhD theses, providing them with an opportunity to share their research and engage in discussions with peers and experts in the field and to obtain feedback. This year, the conference welcomes keynote speaker Steven Weinstein, Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo and Affiliate of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. His research focuses on the foundations of physics, the nature of time, and interpretations of quantum mechanics.

Click here for the LMP Conference Poster

2025 LMP Graduate Student Conference Schedule

May 27th

09:00am – Arrival, light breakfast, coffee

09:30am – Javier Medina Barrientos (UCSD), “Philosophical Puzzles of Warp Drive Spacetimes”

10:45am – Shelly Shi (UCSD), “Why Not a Gravitational Perpetual Motion Machine?”

11:45am – Lunch

01:00pm – Michael Huber, “An Attempt to Showcase Conceptual Incoherence of Anti-Realist Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics”

02:15pm – Dominic Ryder (LSE), “Is Black Hole Evaporation Prediction Friendly?”

03:45pm – Steven Weinstein (University of Waterloo), Keynote Address

07:00pm – Conference Supper

May 28th

09:00am – Arrival, light breakfast, coffee

09:30am – Patrick Fraser (University of Toronto), “Quantity Valuation in Algebraic Quantum Theory”

10:45am – Ellen Shi (UC Irvine), “Algebraic Formalisms and Relationalism”

11:45am – Lunch

01:00pm – Paola Fontana (University of Genoa), “Abductive Arguments for Paraconsistency”

02:15pm – Bosco Garcia (UCSD), “Neural Entropy: Between Statistical Mechanics and Thermodynamics”

03:15pm – Awarding of the Robert K. Clifton Memorial Book Prize

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