New Causal Foundations for Space and Time

The project aims to solve a philosophical problem arising from physics.

Recent developments suggest space and time don’t exist at certain scales. This poses a serious conceptual challenge: scientific experiments usually happen in space and time and so when these are missing we have no idea what experimentation means. Drawing on methods from philosophy, the project will explore causation as a replacement for space and time in our conceptual framework for science. The expected outcome is a seed-bank of models that philosophers and scientists can use to study nature. Anticipated benefits include generating new knowledge in philosophy, strengthening international collaboration and enhancing interdisciplinary research capacity in Australia.