New publication in Synthese: “Newcomb’s problem isn’t a choice dilemma:”

  • Posted on 19 March 2021
  • /Under Workshop
The paper entitled “Newcomb’s problem isn’t a choice dilemma“, written by Zhanglyu Li & Frank Zenker, has been published in Synthese (open access). Abstract "Newcomb’s problem involves a decision-maker faced with a choice and a predictor forecasting this choice. The agents’ interaction seems to generate a choice dilemma once the decision-maker seeks to apply two basic principles of rational choice theory (RCT): maximize expected utility (MEU); adopt the dominant strategy (ADS). We review unsuccessful attempts at pacifying the dilemma by excluding Newcomb’s problem as an RCT-application, by restricting MEU and ADS, and by…continue reading →

Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium: Daniele Oriti (12 March on Zoom)

  • Posted on 8 March 2021
  • /Under News
On Friday, 12 March, Daniele Oriti (LMU Munich) will give a talk entitled “Which spacetime emergence in quantum gravity?” (abstract below). The meeting will take place online on Zoom (17:00-19:00 CET). If you have not registered yet, you can do so by sending a message to antonio.vassallo@pw.edu.pl. The recordings of the previous meetings are available on the ICFO’s YouTube channel. Abstract: We discuss several issues in quantum gravity, related to the notion of spacetime being emergent and not fundamental, focusing on their conceptual aspects more than their (possible) technical solution: – what it…continue reading →

Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium: Sean Carroll (26 February on Zoom)

  • Posted on 22 February 2021
  • /Under News
On Friday, 26 February, Sean Carroll (Caltech) will give a talk entitled “From Quantum Mechanics to Spacetime” (abstract below). The meeting will take place online on Zoom (17:00-19:00 CET). If you have not registered yet, you can do so by sending a message to antonio.vassallo@pw.edu.pl. The recordings of the previous meetings are available on the ICFO’s YouTube channel. Abstract: Nine decades in, the foundations of quantum mechanics remain mysterious. Meanwhile, modern physicists puzzle over how to reconcile quantum mechanics with gravity. I will suggest that these problems are related, and that a promising…continue reading →

NCN Grant »Turing, Ashby, and ›the Action of the Brain‹«

  • Posted on 8 February 2021
  • /Under Grant
The Philosophy of Computing group is implementing NCN (National Science Centre) OPUS 19 grant ref. 2020/37/B/HS1/01809, which was awarded in November 2020. The project's PI is Hajo Greif, the Co-investigator is Paweł Stacewicz, the postdoc Adam Kubiak. The project is funded by NCN with PLN 767,130.– for three years (2021-2023), which involves a three-year postdoc position. The abstract can be downoaded here.continue reading →

Lecture Series »Thinking Machines: History, Present and Future of Artificial Intelligence«

  • Posted on 7 February 2021
  • /Under Lecture
The international and interdisciplinary online lecture series »Thinking Machines: History, Present and Future of Artificial Intelligence« in Summer Term 2021 will be jointly hosted by the Research Institute for the History of Science and Technology, Deutsches Museum, the European New School of Digital Studies, the Munich Center for Technology in Society (MCTS), and the Philosophy of Computing group, ICFO. Speakers include: Pamela McCorduck, Stepahnie Dick, Shannon Vallor, Harry Collins, Wolfgang Bibel, Vincent Müller, Virgia Dignum, Kristian Kersting. More details and full programme here.continue reading →

Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium: Summer semester program

  • Posted on 25 January 2021
  • /Under News
The Philosophy of Physics Group is happy to announce the program of the Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium for the upcoming term: 26 February (17:00-19:00 CET) - Sean Carroll (Caltech) - "From Quantum Mechanics to Spacetime" 12 March (17:00-19:00 CET) - Daniele Oriti (LMU Munich) - TBA 26 March (17:00-19:00 CET) - Sabine Hossenfelder (Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies) - "Superdeterminism" 09 April (17:00-19:00 CEST) - Erik Curiel (LMU Munich, Harvard University) - "The Dynamics of Classical Physics Determines the Structure of Newtonian Spacetime; That of Quantum Physics Does Not" 23 April (17:00-19:00 CEST) -…continue reading →

New Publication in Synthese: Does General Relativity Highlight Necessary Connections in Nature?

  • Posted on 19 January 2021
  • /Under ICFO
The paper entitled “Does General Relativity Highlight Necessary Connections in Nature?“, written by Antonio Vassallo, has been published in Synthese (open access). The paper discusses the physical role that the Bianchi identities play in general relativity, and investigates whether these identities—qua part of a physical law—highlight some kind of a posteriori necessity in a Kripkean sense.continue reading →

Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium: Vera Matarese (22 January on Zoom)

  • Posted on 18 January 2021
  • /Under News
On Friday, 22 January, Vera Matarese (University of Bern) will give a talk entitled “Spacetime the many substances” (abstract below). The meeting will take place online on Zoom (16:00-18:00 CET). If you have not registered yet, you can do so by sending a message to antonio.vassallo@pw.edu.pl. The recordings of the previous meetings are available on the ICFO’s YouTube channel. Abstract: The view that loop quantum gravity’s spin-networks represent concrete atoms of space is proposed in Vassallo & Esfeld (2014), which adopts a primitive ontology approach to spacetime. Rovelli (2015), on the contrary, warns…continue reading →

Warsaw Spacetime Colloquium: Karim Thébault (8 January on Zoom)

  • Posted on 4 January 2021
  • /Under News
On Friday, 8 January, Karim Thébault (University of Bristol) will give a talk entitled “Poincaré, dark energy, and the deadly robots of Krikkit: Solving the problem of time via superpositions of the cosmological constant” (abstract below). The meeting will take place online on Zoom (16:00-18:00 CET). If you have not registered yet, you can do so by sending a message to antonio.vassallo@pw.edu.pl. The program for the winter semester can be found here, while the recordings of the previous meetings are available on the ICFO’s YouTube channel. Abstract: Henri Poincaré, in a strangely neglected…continue reading →

Article by Andrzej Biłat published in Synthese

We are pleased to announce that the article by Andrzej Biłat, entitled The correctness and relevance of the modal ontological argument, was published in Synthese. The paper is published in OA. We encourage you to read it on the journal's website: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11229-020-02908-5.continue reading →