Ontology of physics

This video is part of the PROTEUS project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 758145)

Abstract

In this talk, I will set out the criterion of minimal sufficiency for the ontology of physics: what is an ontology that is minimally sufficient to accommodate what physics tell us about the natural world? My claim is that an ontology defined by the following two axioms answers this question: (1) There are distance relations that individuate simple objects, namely point particles (matter points). (2) The point particles are permanent, with the distances between them changing. The talk will lay out this claim with reference to concrete examples from physics.