Plus.Maths.org
Philosophy Of Cosmology
A group of galaxies as seen by Hubble. Image courtesy NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScl/AURA).
The mind wants to discover by reasoning what exists in the infinity of space that lies out there,
beyond the ramparts of this world
Lucretius
Over the millennia many philosophers must have been inspired by the stars and mused about our role in this vast Universe. But how can philosophy inspire cosmology? Will we ever know everything about the Universe, what do our models of its evolution really tell us, and what does the strange physics that underlies them mean?
Establishing the philosophy of cosmology is a joint project of the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford bringing together philosophers and physicists to do just that. Plus has been following its progress. On this page you can find articles and podcasts based on interviews with participants in the project.
Watching the cosmos 
When it comes to the entire cosmos, we humans are incredibly small and insignificant. But that's precisely why we need to take ourselves into account when thinking about the Universe. Find out why.
Who's looking at you? 
Observers are, of course, vital in physics: we test our theories by comparing them to our observations. But in cosmology, as Jim Hartle explains, we could be one of many possible observers in the Universe and knowing which one we are is vital in testing our theories.
Steady on, Einstein 
To celebrate the release of more English translations of Einstein's papers, we revisit one of his previously unknown models of the Universe.
Dreams of the Universe: Is particle physics unscientific? 
There are many theories in particle physics that cannot be tested in experiments. Does this make it unscientific? This debate, featuring one of our favourite theoretical physicists, David Tong, explores the question.
Cosmology, philosophy and the multiverse 
Is cosmology a science or a branch of philosophy? Mathematician and astronomer Bernard Carr gives some answers.
The multiverse: Science or speculation? 
If you like to have your mind blown cosmology is a great field to go into. But is it science?
Dreaming the dream 
Why cosmologists worry about isolated brains that randomly fluctuate into existence.
Why does cosmology need philosophy? 
George Ellis explains why the study of the cosmos poses some very deep questions.
Why does cosmology need philosophy? 
In this podcast George Ellis explains why the study of the cosmos poses some deep philosophical questions.
