Dr William Simpson

William Simpson is a Civitas Research Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Texas at Austin, and a Research Associate of the University of Cambridge. He is also a Visiting Fellow in Philosophy at the University of Durham.

He holds a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Cambridge (2020), and a doctorate in physics from the University of St Andrews (2014). His research lies at the intersection of philosophy, theology and physics.

For more information, including an up-to-date list of publications, visit Dr Simpson’s Academia page or his personal website.

International Prizes

• In 2020, he received an international Expanded Reason Award for his work on the metaphysics of quantum mechanics, jointly awarded by Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and The Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation.

• In 2021, he was awarded the Cardinal Mercier Prize in International Philosophy, jointly awarded by The Institut supérieur de philosophie (ISP) of UCLouvain and the Hoger Instituut Voor Wijsbegeerte (HIW) of KU Leuven.

Monographs

• Hylomorphism, Cambridge University Press, 2023
• Surprises in Theoretical Casimir Physics: Quantum Forces in Inhomogeneous Media, Springer, 2014

Edited Collections

• Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, Routledge, 2021,co-edited with R.C. Koons and J. Orr
• Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, Routledge, 2017, co-edited with R.C. Koons and N. Teh
• Forces of the Quantum Vacuum: an introduction to Casimir Physics, World Scientific, 2015, co-edited with U. Leonhardt

Select Papers in Philosophy

• “Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers”, The Journal of Philosophy, forthcoming, 2023
• “The Myth of the Physical Given”, Revue philosophique de Louvain, 119(1), 151-164.
• “What’s the matter with Super-Humeanism?” British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 72, 2, 2021, 893-911
• “Toppling the pyramids: physics without physical state monism” [with S.Horsley], in Time, Laws and Free Will, Springer, 2021: DOI:  1007/978-3-030-92486-7_2
• “From Quantum Physics to Classical Metaphysics”, in Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature, Routledge, 2021, DOI: 4324/9781003125860-3
• “Cosmic Hylomorphism: a powerist ontology of quantum mechanics”, European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 2021, DOI: 1007/s13194-020-00342-5
• “Half-baked Humeanism”, in Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science, Routledge, 2017. DOI: 4324/9781315211626-7
• “Knowing nature: beyond reduction and emergence” ?in Knowing Creation, A. Torrance, T. McCall, Zondervan, 2017, 237-260
• “Ontological aspects of the Casimir Effect”, Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 2014, DOI: 1016/j.shpsb.2014.08.001