Metaphysical Experiments: Physics and the Invention of the Universe

213 Pages·2019·33.5 MB·English

by  Bjørn Ekeberg

metaphysical experiments
cary wolfe, series editor
49 Metaphysical Experiments: Physics and the Invention of
the Universe
Bjørn Ekeberg
48 Dialogues on the Human Ape
Laurent Dubreuil and Sue Savage- Rumbaugh
47 Elements of a Philosophy of Technology: On the Evolutionary
History of Culture
Ernst Kapp
46 Biology in the Grid: Graphic Design and the Envisioning of Life
Phillip Thurtle
45 Neurotechnology and the End of Finitude
Michael Haworth
44 Life: A Modern Invention
Davide Tarizzo
43 Bioaesthetics: Making Sense of Life in Science and the Arts
Carsten Strathausen
42 Creaturely Love: How Desire Makes Us More and Less Than
Human
Dominic Pettman
41 Matters of Care: Speculative Ethics in More Than Human Worlds
Maria Puig de la Bellacasa
40 Of Sheep, Oranges, and Yeast: A Multispecies Impression
Julian Yates
39 Fuel: A Speculative Dictionary
Karen Pinkus
38 What Would Animals Say If We Asked the Right Questions?
Vinciane Despret
37 Manifestly Haraway
Donna J. Haraway
36 Neofinalism
Raymond Ruyer
35 Inanimation: Theories of Inorganic Life
David Wills
(continued on page 200)
MMEETTAAPPHHYYSSIICCAALL
EEXXPPEERRIIMMEENNTTSS
posthumanities 42
Physics and
tphoseth uImnanvitieesn 4t3ion
of the Universe
posthumanities 44
posthumanities 45
posthumanities 46
BJØRN EKEBERG
posthumanities 47
posthumanities 48
posthumanities 49
posthumanities 50
posthumanities 51
University of Minnesota Press
posthumanities 52
Minneapolis
London
posthumanities 53
posthumanities 54
posthumanities 55
posthumanities 56
posthumanities 57
posthumanities 58
posthumanities 59
posthumanities 60
posthumanities 61
Copyright 2019 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401- 2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Printed in the United States of America on acid-f ree paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-o pportunity educator and employer.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ekeberg, Bjørn, author.
Title: Metaphysical experiments : physics and the invention of the universe /
Bjørn Ekeberg.
Description: Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2019] | Series:
Posthumanities ; 49 | Based on author’s thesis (Ph. D., University of Victoria,
2010). | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018024168 (print) | LCCN 2018056840 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781452959511 (e-book) | ISBN 9781517905699 (hc : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781517905705 (pb : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Science—Philosophy. | Uniformity of nature.
Classification: LCC Q175 (ebook) | LCC Q175 .E3768 2019 (print) |
DDC 523.1—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018024168
UMP BmB
No progress can be made in the philosophy of science if the
whole settlement is not discussed at once in all its components:
ontology, epistemology, ethics, politics, and theology.
— Bruno Latour
This page intentionally left blank
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments // ix
Introduction // 1
A Metaphysical Experiment
1 Cosmology in the Cave // 17
The World- Picture of Modern Physics
2 Of God and Nature // 43
The Invention of the Universe
3 Probability and Proliferation // 81
The Invention of the Particle
4 Metaphysics with a Big Bang // 121
The Invention of Scientific Cosmology
Conclusion // 159
Lost in the Universe
Notes // 169
Bibliography // 183
Index // 193
This page intentionally left blank
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Three years of independent immersive research for this project, fol-
lowing a year of intensive comprehensive examination on the canoni-
cal texts of Western history of thought, took place under the aegis of
the remarkable interdisciplinary PhD program in cultural, social, and
political thought at the University of Victoria.
This book would never have come about without the faithful intel-
lectual support of Dr. Arthur Kroker. I am deeply indebted to him for
his vast and intrepid scope of interest, his trenchant critical reflections,
and for allowing me unparalleled freedom of movement to connect
discourses that tend toward isolation.
In developing my thinking about metaphysics, I owe much to my
dear friend the philosopher- maverick Seth Asch, who also first led me
to read Spinoza. Moreover, the critical perspectives and questions of
Dr. R. B. J. Walker and Dr. Stephen Ross sharpened my interdisciplin-
ary thinking, ranging from political science and mathematics to lit-
erary theory. Dr. David Cook at the University of Toronto provided
important support with his broad understanding of the history and
theory of science. Dr. Andrew Feenberg at Simon Fraser University
engaged openly with the challenging material from the point of view
of philosophy of technology and offered helpful advice in developing
the material toward the book that it has now become.
I thank the physicists I met at the European Council for Nuclear
Research (CERN) and at Cambridge University, where I first presented
my thesis, for their patience with the questions of an outsider. Thanks
to Marilouise Kroker and CTheory for kind advice on the publishing
process. I am grateful for the critique of peer reviewers at the Univer-
sity of Minnesota Press, as well as the constructive dialogue with editor
Cary Wolfe and publisher Douglas Armato, which helped to make this
a better book. Thanks also to the diligent work of the editorial team at
the Press, including Gabriel Levin and Mike Stoffel.
Funding for this project was provided by a three-y ear Canada Grad-
uate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research
Council.
ix