Philosophy of Dark Energy

The PhilDarkEnergy project proposes that the most dominant ingredient of our universe, dark energy, undermines the widely held assumption of a strict ontological trichotomy between spacetime, matter and constants of nature. Dark energy exhibits aspects of all three categories, rather than falling neatly into exactly one category. The project will study the wide-ranging and far-reaching consequences of this blurred categorisation of dark energy for major debates in philosophy---in particular: the substantivalism-relationalism debate about the metaphysics of spacetime and matter, scientific realism vs. scientific anti-realism, and conventionalism---as well as for theory development in cosmology. This project will take place at the University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, and provide the fellow Dr. Niels Martens with additional training, skills and knowledge in the fields of philosophy of dark energy and philosophy of cosmology more broadly. This will consolidate his academic expertise, independence and networks, with the goals of providing him the skills and expertise needed for a permanent academic position in the EU and playing a leading role in developing and promoting the new field of philosophy of cosmology in the EU.