PANTHEON
ExploreBuild My Library
© 2026 Pantheon — an atlas of the ideas that shaped how we think.
person1980s-present

Tim Maudlin

Disciplines:
metaphysics
philosophy of science/philosophy of physics

Summary

American philosopher of physics who has advocated for a robust metaphysics of the physical world — defending the reality of laws of nature, the arrow of time, and Bohmian quantum mechanics.

Core Contribution

The Metaphysics Within Physics: physics does not merely describe correlations but reveals genuine laws and ontology. Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity: demonstrates that quantum entanglement requires some form of physical non-locality even in the face of special relativity. Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Theory / Space and Time: pedagogically influential textbooks.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Is a committed advocate of Bohmian mechanics (pilot-wave theory) — in which particles have definite positions at all times guided by a pilot wave — as the most philosophically honest interpretation of quantum mechanics.
  • Notoriously critical of the multiverse / Everettian interpretations, which he regards as metaphysically irresponsible speculations that have been mistaken for physics.

Notable Works & Achievements

Quantum Non-Locality and Relativity

The Metaphysics Within Physics

Philosophy of Physics: Quantum Theory

Historical Influences

David Bohm John Bell

Intellectual Lineage

Analytic Philosophy of Physics

Contemporaries & Peers

David Albert Sean Carroll

Minds Influenced

Philosophy of Physics Research

Intellectual Posterity

Philosophy of Quantum MechanicsLaws of Nature

Discussing

Tim Maudlin

Ask anything about Tim Maudlin — their ideas, influences, contradictions, legacy.

Sign in to start a conversation.