The Multiverse: a Philosophical Introduction
Fuente:
arXiv
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| _version_ | 1866916766560550912 |
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| author | Butterfield, Jeremy |
| author_facet | Butterfield, Jeremy |
| contents | This book is a philosopher's introduction to the idea that our universe is just one of many universes. I present and assess three versions of the idea: one version from philosophy, and two from physics. In short, they are: all the logically possible worlds; all the branches of the quantum state, in an Everettian interpretation of quantum theory; and all the bubbles of inflationary cosmology. For each proposal, I choose one main philosophical question to discuss in depth. They are, respectively: what is a possible world; what is chance; and what is explanation. But before treating these proposals and their associated questions, I set the stage by reviewing physics and philosophy from about 1600 to about 1900; and a final Chapter compares and contrasts the proposals. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2505_23639 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | The Multiverse: a Philosophical Introduction Butterfield, Jeremy History and Philosophy of Physics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Quantum Physics This book is a philosopher's introduction to the idea that our universe is just one of many universes. I present and assess three versions of the idea: one version from philosophy, and two from physics. In short, they are: all the logically possible worlds; all the branches of the quantum state, in an Everettian interpretation of quantum theory; and all the bubbles of inflationary cosmology. For each proposal, I choose one main philosophical question to discuss in depth. They are, respectively: what is a possible world; what is chance; and what is explanation. But before treating these proposals and their associated questions, I set the stage by reviewing physics and philosophy from about 1600 to about 1900; and a final Chapter compares and contrasts the proposals. |
| title | The Multiverse: a Philosophical Introduction |
| topic | History and Philosophy of Physics General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology Quantum Physics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.23639 |