Cosmic Questions has four thematic areas: Our Place in Space; Observing the Universe; Our Place in Time; and Great Cosmic Mysteries.
Each area introduces new answers to old questions and inspires more questions that will further define ou place in the cosmos..
Is the Universe really infinite or just really big? How can the Universe be infinite if it was all concentrated into a point at the Big Bang? How can the oldest stars in the Universe be older than the Universe? Can objects move away from us faster than the speed of light?.
One example of philosophy of cosmology that seems to have trickled out to the layman is the idea of fine tuning—the notion that in the set of all possible physics, the subset that permits the evolution of life is very small, and that from this it is possible to conclude that the universe is either one of a large number .
Cosmology deals with the physical situation that is the context in the large for human existence: the universe has such a nature that our life is possible.
This means that although it is a physical science, it is of particular importance in terms of its implications for human life.Sep 26, 2017.
A big part of defining an area of study is deciding on a set of questions that we all agree are worth thinking about
As a tiny step in that direction, here is my attempt to highlight ten questions — and various sub-questions — that naturally fall under the rubric of Philosophy of Cosmology
THE PHILOSOPHY OF COSMOLOGY Following a long-term international collaboration between leaders in cosmology and the philosophy of science, this volume addresses foundational questions at the limits of sci- ence across these disciplines, questions raised by observational and theoretical progress in modern cosmology
In our view, part of what makes cosmology so rich for philosophical inquiry is its wealth of problems that are apparently unique, at least within physics
A focus on traditional problems in philosophy of physics misses this richness
For this reason, the project we describe here takes a different tack, intended to complement the previous projects
Here we go:
