‘The Cosmos as a World City: A Philosophical Reflection’
Dr William Simpson is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Durham University and a Research Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Cambridge and a PhD in physics from St Andrews. He is the author of Hylomorphism (Cambridge, 2023) and Surprises in Theoretical Casimir Physics (Springer, 2014). Simpson is a Research Associate at Von Hügel Institute; his research lies at the intersection of philosophy, theology and physics.
In this philosophical reflection, Simpson argues that the root of today’s civic crisis is cosmological: the dominant pictures of nature—whether atomistic or holistic—are inhospitable to the kinds of moral, rational, and communal agency that civic life requires. Drawing on his own journey from physics to philosophy, and on his research into the metaphysics of quantum theory, Simpson explores the case for renewing a hylomorphic cosmology, and considers how recovering this vision of nature could help restore the conditions for civic friendship, moral formation, and even spiritual communion.
- Monday 2nd June, 5.30 to 7.00pm BST
- Hybrid meeting room/zoom
To register please email vhi@st-edmunds.cam.ac.uk