en
Scientific article
Open access
English

Space Emergence in Contemporary Physics: Why We Do Not Need Fundamentality, Layers of Reality and Emergence

ContributorsLe Bihan, Baptisteorcid
Published inDisputatio, vol. 10, no. 49
Publication date2018
Abstract

‘Space does not exist fundamentally: it emerges from a more fundamental non spatial structure.' This intriguing claim appears in various research programs in contemporary physics. Philosophers of physics tend to believe that this claim entails either that spacetime does not exist, or that it is derivatively real. In this article, I introduce and defend a third metaphysical interpretation of the claim: reductionism about space. I argue that, as a result, there is no need to subscribe to fundamentality, layers of reality and emergence in order to analyse the constitution of space by non-spatial entities. It follows that space constitution, if borne out, does not provide empirical evidence in favour of a stratified, Aristotelian in spirit, metaphysics. The view will be described in relation to two particular research programs in contemporary physics: wave function realism and loop quantum gravity.

Keywords
  • Spacetime
  • Space
  • Emergence
  • Fundamentality
  • Levels of reality
  • Quantum gravity
Citation (ISO format)
LE BIHAN, Baptiste. Space Emergence in Contemporary Physics: Why We Do Not Need Fundamentality, Layers of Reality and Emergence. In: Disputatio, 2018, vol. 10, n° 49. doi: 10.2478/disp-2018-0004
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Identifiers
ISSN of the journal0873-626X
451views
230downloads

Technical informations

Creation01/15/2019 4:01:00 PM
First validation01/15/2019 4:01:00 PM
Update time03/15/2023 3:23:19 PM
Status update03/15/2023 3:23:18 PM
Last indexation02/12/2024 12:58:40 PM
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack