Staff profile

William M. R. Simpson is an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Philosophy at Durham, where he holds an Early Career Leverhulme Fellowship, and he is the Early Career Representative on the Department's Senior Management Team. He is also a Research Fellow of Blackfriars Hall, Oxford, and a Research Associate of St Edmund's College, Cambridge (both non-stipendiary). He holds a doctorate in philosophy from Cambridge (2020) and a doctorate in physics from St Andrews (2014).

His current research is focussed on developing a hylomorphic approach to cosmopsychism that is informed by the quantum theory of matter. More generally, he is seeking to combine classical thought with the sciences to provide a general account of the natural world and of how humans and animals fit into it. With a focus on the integration of mind and matter, his work advances our understanding of the place of life and agency within the world described by physics.

Simpson's research at Durham and Oxford lies at the intersection of philosophy and physics, overspilling into the philosophy of mind and the philosophy of religion. For more information about his work, such as a description of his current Leverhulme project, "Minding your matter", or an up-to-date list of his publications in philosophy and physics, visit his Academia page or personal website.

Work in Progress

"The Entanglement Problem for Psychological Hylomorphism" with Robert C. Koons (under review)

“The Limits of Quantum Physics and the Emergence of Complexity” with George F. R. Ellis (under contract with Cambridge University Press)

“Cosmopsychism and the Laws of Physics: A Hylomorphic Perspective”, Journal of Consciousness Studies, forthcoming

“Matter and Form in Polanyi’s Post-Critical Platonism” (invited by Tradition and Discovery: The Polanyi Society Periodical)

“Powerist and Nomological Interpretations of Quantum Theory” (invited by Philosophy Compass)

“Prime Matter Revisited” in Thomism Revisited, G. Kerr (Ed.), Cambridge University Press, forthcoming

 

• Philosophy of physics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of religion

• 2024: Visiting Scholar in the Faculty of Philosophy, Oxford: University of Oxford
• 2023: Visiting Fellow at the St Cross Centre for History and Philosophy of Physics, Oxford: University of Oxford.
• 2022: Fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR):
• 2021: Cardinal Mercier Prize in Philosophy: Jointly awarded by The Institut supérieur de philosophie (ISP) of UCLouvain and the Hoger Instituut Voor Wijsbegeerte (HIW) of KU Leuven.
• 2020: Expanded Reason Award: Jointly awarded by Universidad Francisco de Vitoria and The Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, 2020.
• 2014: Springer Thesis Prize in Physics: Nominated by the Weizmann Institute of Science.

Authored book

• Simpson, W. M. R. (2023). Hylomorphism. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009026475
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2015). Surprises in Theoretical Casimir Physics: Quantum Forces in Inhomogeneous Media. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09315-4

Book review

• Simpson, W. (in press). The Undivided Self: Aristotle and the Mind-Body Problem by David Charles. Ancient Philosophy Today: Dialogoi,
• Simpson, W. (2024). The History of Hylomorphism, ed. David Charles. Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews,
• Simpson, W. (2021). Reconsidering Causal Powers: Historical and Conceptual Perspectives, Eds.
H. Lagerlund, B. Hill, S. Psillos. British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 29(5), 958-960
• Simpson, W. (2021). Emergence: Towards a New Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science by M. Tabaczek. The Thomist, 85, 159-163

Chapter in book

• Simpson, W. (in press). Prime Matter Revisited. In Thomism Revisited. Cambridge University Press
• Simpson, W., & Horsley, S. (2023). Saving the macroscopic. In M. Harris (Ed.), God and the Book of Nature: Experiments in Theology of Science (131-154). Routledge
• Simpson, W. M. R., & Horsley, S. A. R. (2022). Toppling the Pyramids: Physics Without Physical State Monism. In C. J. Austin, A. Marmodoro, & A. Roselli (Eds.), . Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92486-7_2
• Simpson, W. M. R., & Pemberton, J. M. (2022). Cosmic Hylomorphism vs Bohmian Dispositionalism: Implications of the ‘No-Successor Problem’. In Quantum Mechanics and Fundamentality: Naturalizing Quantum Theory between Scientific Realism and Ontological Indeterminacy (269-282). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99642-0_18
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2021). From Quantum Physics to Classical Metaphysics. In W. M. Simpson, R. C. Koons, & J. Orr (Eds.), Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature (21-65). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003125860-3
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2017). Half-Baked Humeanism. In W. M. R. Simpson, R. C. Koons, & N. J. Teh (Eds.), Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science (123-145). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315211626-7
• Koons, R. C., Simpson, W. M. R., & Teh, N. J. (2017). Reflections on Contemporary Science and the New Aristotelianism. In W. M. R. Simpson, R. C. Koons, & N. J. Teh (Eds.), Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science (1-11). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315211626-1
• Simpson, W. (2017). Knowing nature: beyond reduction and emergence. In A. B. Torrance, & T. H. McCall (Eds.), Knowing Creation: Perspectives from Theology, Philosophy, and Science (237-260). Zondervan
• Simpson, W., Leonhardt, U., Decca, R., & Buhmann, S. Y. (2015). Casimir forces at the cutting edge. In W. M. R. Simpson, & U. Leonhardt (Eds.), Forces of the Quantum Vacuum: an introduction to Casimir Physics (227-246). World Scientific Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1142/9789814644761_0007

Edited book

• Simpson, W. M. R., Koons, R. C., & Orr, J. (Eds.). (2021). Neo-Aristotelian Metaphysics and the Theology of Nature. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003125860
• Simpson, W. M. R., Koons, R. C., & Teh, N. J. (Eds.). (2017). Neo-Aristotelian Perspectives on Contemporary Science. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315211626
• Simpson, W. (2015). Forces of the Quantum Vacuum: an Introduction to Casimir Physics. World Scientific Publishing

Journal Article

• Simpson, W. (in press). Matter and Form in Polanyi’s Post-Critical Platonism. Tradition and Discovery: The Polanyi Society Periodical,
• Simpson, W., & Koons, R. (in press). The Entanglement Problem for Psychological Hylomorphism. Res Philosophica,
• Simpson, W. (2024). Cosmopsychism and the Laws of Physics: A Hylomorphic Perspective. Journal of Consciousness Studies, 31(9-10), 132-157. https://doi.org/10.53765/20512201.31.9.132
• Simpson, W. M. (2024). Why Middle-Sized Matters: Quantum Realism, Minds and the Problem of Macro-Objects. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2877(1), Article 012121. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/2877/1/012121
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2024). Prime Matter and Modern Physics. Ancient Philosophy Today: Dialogoi, 6(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.3366/anph.2024.0100
• Moško, M., & Simpson, W. M. R. (2024). Whose Hylomorphism? Which Theory of Prime Matter?. Ancient Philosophy Today: Dialogoi, 6(1), 65-91. https://doi.org/10.3366/anph.2024.0103
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2023). Small Worlds with Cosmic Powers. Journal of Philosophy, 120(8), 401-420. https://doi.org/10.5840/jphil2023120824
• Simpson, W. (2022). The Myth of the Physical Given. Revue Philosophique de Louvain, 119(1), 151-164
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2021). What’s the Matter with Super-Humeanism?. The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 72(3), 893-911. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axz028
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2021). Cosmic hylomorphism: A powerist ontology of quantum mechanics. European Journal for Philosophy of Science, 11(1), Article 28. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13194-020-00342-5
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2014). Ontological aspects of the Casimir Effect. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part B: Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 48(Part A), 84-88. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.shpsb.2014.08.001
• Simpson, W. M. R. (2013). Casimir force in a compressive transformation medium. Physical Review A, 88(6), Article 063852. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.88.063852
• Horsley, S. A. R., & Simpson, W. M. R. (2013). Cutoff dependence of the Casimir force within an inhomogeneous medium. Physical Review A, 88(1), Article 013833. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.88.013833
• Simpson, W. M. R., Horsley, S. A. R., & Leonhardt, U. (2013). Divergence of Casimir stress in inhomogeneous media. Physical Review A, 87(4), Article 043806. https://doi.org/10.1103/physreva.87.043806
• Leonhardt, U., & Simpson, W. M. R. (2011). Exact solution for the Casimir stress in a spherically symmetric medium. Physical Review D, 84(8), Article 081701(R). https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.84.081701