The starting point of the symposium is the simple question ‘What, if anything, is the void?’ The wording points to the essential ambiguity, or the paradox, for the void is precisely not anything, but has to be accounted for as something, as a locus not simply empty, but in its emptiness generative of ‘something’, indeed of ‘being’ and universe. Looking at this paradox from the side of science the physicist John Wheeler famously put it: “No point is more central than this, that empty space is not empty. It is the seat of the most violent physics.” Two monumental testaments to Wheeler’s point are the two greatest scientific theories of 20th century: theory of relativity and quantum field theory. These theories have fundamentally transformed our view of the universe and they have done so precisely by substantially altering our notion of the most fundamental fabric of physical reality the empty space.
B.01 Organiser of a scientific meeting
COBISS.SI-ID: 36480045One of the most important questions in the history of early modern science which is still not completely explained is how Copernicus arrived at heliocentrism. I believe that Copernicus’ Platonism explains all the most fundamental aspects of his project. It brings unity and coherence to his work and links otherwise seemingly completely unrelated issues, such as the equant problem and the problem of the order of the planetary spheres, into consistent philosophy.
B.05 Guest lecturer at an institute/university
COBISS.SI-ID: 34806317