[PHILOS-L] Special Issue Philosophy of Astrophysics and Cosmology
Marco Forgione
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Virtual Special Issue - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science
Submission opens: 1 March 2026
Submission deadline: 31 August 2026
This special issue aims to provide novel insight in modeling practices and validation strategies in cosmology and astrophysics from historical and/or philosophical perspectives.
Guest editors:
Silvia De Bianchi, Marco Forgione, Federico Viglione
The rapid move to data-driven practice, the increasing reliance on simulation-dependent inferences, and the expansion to multi-messenger astrophysics have made the philosophy of cosmology and astrophysics a lively, fast-moving area. In the era of “precision cosmology”, we are able to gather and analyze unprecedented amounts of data about the universe and its structure, also thanks to new telescopes like the James Webb Space Telescope and detectors like LIGO. New missions will expand our observations and understanding of the universe at different scales: Euclid’s weak-lensing and clustering maps, LSST’s time-domain surveys, DESI’s precision spectroscopy, JWST’s deep high-redshift observations, multi- messenger inputs such as gravitational-wave standard sirens, and forthcoming CMB measurements. However, major puzzles still remain, such as the Hubble tension, the measurement and assessment of the role of the dark sector, as well as more foundational problems concerning the status of inflation and the quest for a theory of quantum gravity. Submissions could address issues including, but not limited to, the following:
- “What do simulations represent and how do astrophysics and cosmology change our epistemology?”
- “How do explanations work when inference is distributed across instruments and algorithms?”
- “Which role and status of models of explanations for the early universe can one identify in current cosmology?”
- “What is the implication of current challenges involving the Hubble tension and the study of the dark sector?”
- “Do we find continuity with the past in the shaping of scientific representation, explanation, and prediction in strongly data-driven fields?”
- “What is or why there isn't an impact of data-driven research on the foundations of scientific theories, such as general relativity, and on the philosophy of spacetime?”
- “Is the nature of evidence and/or discovery in astrophysics and cosmology different when it comes to ‘precision cosmology’?”
- “What is the role of AI techniques in cosmology?”
For further information about the Special Issue and the submission, please contact Silvia De Bianchi silvia.d...@unimi.it and Marco Forgione marco.f...@unimi.it
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