CUSO workshop on spacetime functionalism

On March 1-2, 2018, we will hold a small, but international, workshop in metaphysics and philosophy of science, at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. The topic of the workshop is spacetime functionalism, and its aim is to investigate how a functionalist approach may provide the relevant conceptual tools for understanding the nature of spacetime as described by fundamental physics. In particular, the idea is to explore spacetime functionalism in the context of quantum gravity, where it is suggested that spacetime is not fundamental, and the issue of emergence arises. We would like to discuss the analogy here with other forms of functionalism in philosophy—in particular in metaphysics and philosophy of mind.