Thomas Pashby is Assistant Professor in the Department of Philosophy. He specializes in philosophy of physics with a particular interest in the interaction of physics, metaphysics, and the philosophy of science. He received his graduate training at the University of Pittsburgh, where he wrote his dissertation "Time and the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics" under the direction of John Earman and John D. Norton. He is currently engaged in research projects concerning the interpretation of quantum mechanics, the relational theory of time, and structural realism. What connects these projects is the idea that modern physics is best interpreted within an event ontology, which is to say that (metaphysically speaking) events and processes are fundamental rather than objects and properties.
He is also interested in the history of this idea, which originates with Whitehead and Russell (in their post-Principia works). In this connection, he is working on a novel defense of Russell's structural realism and (with Riccardo Pinosio) on an updated version of Russell's relational theory of time in a form suited to relativistic spacetime. In the history of physics, he has a long-term project concerning Paul Dirac's discoveries in relativistic quantum theory and his use of projective geometry. He is a board member of the PhilSci-Archive, a free preprint server for philosophy of science.
Selected Publications
“How Do Things Persist? Location Relations in Physics and the Metaphysics of Persistence,” Dialetica 70, no. 3 (2016): 269–309
“Time and Quantum Theory: A History and a Prospectus,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 52 (2015): 24–38
“Reply to Fleming: Symmetries, Observables, and the Occurrence of Events,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 52 (2015): 44–47
“Taking Times Out: Tense Logic as a Theory of Time,” Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 50 (2015): 13–18.
“Do Quantum Objects Have Temporal Parts?” Philosophy of Science 80, no. 5 (2013): 1137–1147.
“Dirac’s Prediction of the Positron: A Case Study for the Current Realism Debate,” Perspectives on Science 20, no. 4 (2012): 440–75