Jonathan Schaffer | The Priority of the Whole, and into the Formalism

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WARNING:

We'll have a review of the paper so far at the beginning of the meeting. New to the paper? It's ok. I got you. A little warning: It is full of philosophical jargans, and crazy technical. If you are into that sort of thing, be my guest.

ABOUT:

Is the universe built from the bottom up, or is the whole damn thing more than the sum of its parts?
This week we dive into Jonathan Schaffer’s bold claim that the cosmos—the entire universe—is the one and only fundamental thing. Forget atoms, particles, and Lego-block metaphysics. Schaffer says all the little stuff is just dependent noise dangling from the real deal: the whole. This view, called monism, flips the usual script in metaphysics.
We'll explore:

• Why Schaffer thinks parts are overrated
• How quantum entanglement supports monism
• Whether emergence works one way only
• And what it means if the universe is one big inseparable unit

Come ready to challenge your assumptions. Are you a partist or a wholist? Let’s find out.

No prior knowledge required, but bring your curiosity and passion.