Fundamentality in Physics and Metaphysics

关于原教旨性的争论是当代形而上学的核心。同样，基础性已成为物理学哲学争论的关键。然而，关于后者，人们往往不清楚这一概念到底是什么意思。对科学哲学中的基础性问题的调查通常没有充分注意到关于这一问题的形而上学的工作。另一方面，当形而上学学者试图阐明像基础性这样的概念时，科学案例研究很少。因此，这个项目的总体目标是汇集物理学、物理学哲学和形而上学关于基础性的观点，研究物理学和形而上学中基础性问题的不同维度，并回答物理哲学和形而上学交汇处紧迫的概念、本体论和方法论问题。具体地说，这个项目的目的是探索物理学和形而上学中关于以下研究问题的基础性：(I)物理学和形而上学中使用了哪些基础性概念，它们之间是如何联系的？(Ii)对于什么可以作为基本原则，是否有任何限制？(3)是什么决定了依附关系的走向？(4)我们如何有效地区分关于根本性的辩论和关于现实的辩论？(V)物理学对形而上学的确切贡献是什么？

Debates on fundamentality are at the center of contemporary metaphysics. Similarly, fundamentality has become key to debates in the philosophy of physics. However, with respect to the latter, it is often unclear what is meant precisely by the concept. Investigations into issues of fundamentality in the philosophy of science are usually conducted without taking sufficient notice of the metaphysical work on the matter. On the other hand, scientific case studies are scarce when metaphysicians try to articulate notions like fundamentality. Hence, the general aim of this project is bringing together perspectives on fundamentality from physics, philosophy of physics, and metaphysics to study the different dimensions of issues of fundamentality in physics and metaphysics, and answer pressing conceptual, ontological and methodological questions at the intersection of philosophy of physics and metaphysics. Specifically, the aim of this project is to explore fundamentality in physics and metaphysics with respect to the following research questions: (i) What concepts of fundamentality are used in physics and metaphysics and how are they related? (ii) Are there any constraints on what can serve as a fundamental? (iii) What fixes the direction of dependence relations? (iv) How can we fruitfully demarcate debates on fundamentality from debates on reality? (v) What is the exact contribution of physics to metaphysics?