Carlo Rovelli (Marseille): “Why Physics Needs Philosophy”

Once again, Physics is facing foundational questions: What is the nature of time? What is the nature of space? How did the Universe begin? What is the role of the mind in the description of reality? Can we understand Nature just in terms of elementary constituents?…

Questions of this sort cannot be addressed without philosophical awareness, and an increasing number of physicists are once again reading philosophy, as did the great scientists of the past, searching for ideas, for conceptual clarity, for methodological awareness. The conversation between Physics and Philosophy, which has produced some of the most successful ideas of the history of science, is restarting.

Carlo Rovelli is a Professor at University of the Mediterranean and Director of the Quantum Gravity Group at CPT. He is the author of the bestselling book, Seven Brief Lessons on Physics.

This public lecture formed part of The 18th UK-European Foundations of Physics Conference, 16–18 July 2016.