Space, Time, and Location

The metaphysics of persistence has obvious connections with the physics of matter. This workshop aims to bring together metaphysicians and philosophers of physics to explore foundational questions about spacetime, material objects, and the nature of locative relations between them. Speakers will explore the historical and conceptual dimensions of debates over topics including:

• The prospects of supersubstantivalism, and the role of objects/particles in physical theory;
• The nature of location in quantum mechanics;
• The fundamentality of spacetime, and the metaphysics of space and time;
• The locative turn in the metaphysics of persistence;
• The ontology of field theories;
• The role of spacetime in formulations of quantum mechanics.

Registration will be free but required for organisational purposes, and in-person numbers are strictly limited due to room capacity and catering constraints. Please register via email to the organiser; you will be contacted closer to the event with further details.

This will be a hybrid event. All talks will be in-person, taking place in Adelaide/Tarndanya, on the unceded lands of the Kaurna people. We will also provide a livestream of the talks and discussion via Zoom for those who cannot or will not travel to the conference venue. If you wish to have access to the livestream please register your interest by emailing the organiser by 17:00 on July 9. Remote attendees will have the opportunity to participate in the Q&A.

The workshop is part of the Australian Research Council funded project, Everything in its Place.