The Laws of the Universe
Quote:The Laws of the Universe
Are the laws of nature just human constructs?
Since Newton, we have assumed that the universe is governed by unchanging laws, and Stephen Hawking once even argued that we were close to uncovering them in their entirety. But are these laws really eternal features of the universe? If so, how do they emerge and how do they act? Or are they merely human ways of codifying the world, which remains somehow unknowable and inexplicable?
The Panel
Nobel Prize-winning physicist Gerard 't Hooft joins Helen Beebee, Manchester's Samuel Hall Professor of Philosophy and President of the Aristotelian Society, and UNC-Chapel Hill cosmologist and professor of physics Laura Mersini-Houghton explore the laws of nature.
'Historically, we may regard materialism as a system of dogma set up to combat orthodox dogma...Accordingly we find that, as ancient orthodoxies disintegrate, materialism more and more gives way to scepticism.'
- Bertrand Russell
- Bertrand Russell