161 - James Owen Weatherall: Nothingness and the Physics of the Void

James Owen Weatherall is Professor of Logic and the Philosophy of Science and Department Chair at the University of California, Irvine, where he is also a member of the Institute for Mathematical Behavioral Science, the Center for Cosmology, and the Jack W. Peltason Center for the Study of Democracy. Jim is a physicist, mathematician, and philosopher, and works broadly on  the mathematical and conceptual foundations of classical and quantum field theories, as well as the philosophy of science more generally, though he has plenty of other interests, such as model building in finance. In this episode, Robinson and Jim discuss nothingness and the physics of the void, beginning with the debate between Leibniz and Newton on the nature of space, moving through the revolution ushered in by Einstein’s special and general relativity, and ending with the quantum vacuum state.

Jim’s Website: http://jamesowenweatherall.com

Void: https://a.co/d/eEwbGCh

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:49 Introduction

03:04 MFA, PhD, PhD

06:04 Physics and Metaphysics

16:00 Newton, Leibniz, and the Debate Over Absolute Space

39:32 How Did Einstein Change Our Understanding of Space?

01:03:28 How Does Quantum Theory Change Our Classical Picture of the World

01:14:15 Fields and the Quantum Mechanics of the Void

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.