The general aim of this project is to bring together perspectives on fundamentality from physics, philosophy of physics, and metaphysics in order to investigate the different dimensions of fundamentality in each, as well as to answer pressing conceptual, ontological and methodological questions at the intersection of philosophy of physics and metaphysics.
Specifically, the project aims to shed light on fundamentality with regard to the following research questions:
- What concepts of fundamentality are used in physics and metaphysics and how are they related?
- Are there restrictions on what can be considered fundamental?
- What determines the direction of dependence relations?
- How can we fruitfully distinguish debates about fundamentality from debates about reality? (v) What is the precise contribution of physics to metaphysics?
Additional work in the context of teaching and outreach will study the actual use and understanding of conceptualisations of fundamentality and their scientific and societal implications in other disciplines and the general public.
This project was previously situated at the University of Cologne and will restart at Radboud University in October 2024 with Martin Voggenauer as a new postdoc for the remaining two years.
