Colliding Worldviews

A world view integrates an interpretation of the world, with how we feel about reality and the place of human life in it, and a conception of the way we should act in it. Since thus aligning metaphysics, axiology and ethics is laborious -if at all possible- and since epistemically, new information almost incessantly necessitates updates, most world views remain work in progress. Some world views. however, are more edgy than others, because they face a wicked problem at their core.

The projects in the research programme Colliding World Views illustrate the various ways in which central problems can be wicked. One project focuses on the interpretation of quantum mechanics: the open-ended metaphysical question of explaining how that mathematical theory might correspond to experienced reality, which involves mesmerizing thought experiments. Another project aims to unravel rival conceptions of ‘life’ and their ramifications for what it’s actually like to live a human life in the world.

Other researchers in Colliding World Views aim to change the real world for the better, for instance, by countering current truth decay or by promoting ‘livability’, ‘viability’. Given the social complexity of such wicked problems, addressing them typically requires multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary or transdisciplinary methodologies.