Philosophy and Physics

Overview

Key facts

The Philosophy and Physics course requirements at Boston University are designed to prepare students for further research into the conceptual and philosophical foundations of modern physics. Students with this joint degree can go on to pursue graduate work in a number of fields, including physics, philosophy, history and philosophy of science, or science journalism.

Learning Outcomes

Students completing the program are expected to have:

• Understanding of a brief history and current discussions of some fundamental questions in metaphysics (ontology and causality) and philosophy of science (realism and instrumentalism, theory change and theory assessment, reduction and emergence).

• Familiarity with some of the basic questions in philosophy of physics and the approaches addressing them: nature of space time (absolute or relative, substantial or relational, static or dynamic) in relativity theories, and the substantival, relationist, and constructivist approaches to dealing with them; nature of probability and irreversibility in statistical mechanics; duality, measurement, and entanglement in quantum mechanics and the Copenhagen and the hidden variable approaches to these questions; locality, divergence, and renormalizability in quantum field theory, and the structural realist approach to handling them.

• Familiarity with the core areas in current research in foundational physics where philosophical interventions are most visible: quantum gravity and cosmology (especially the applicability of the second law of thermodynamics and the quantum principles to its specific subject: the whole universe).

• Skills of critical thinking, analytical thinking, and written and oral communication, as expected for majors in Philosophy.