The Multiverse: a Philosophical Introduction
Abstract
This book is a philosopher's introduction to the idea that our universe is just one of many universes. I present and assess three versions of the idea: one version from philosophy, and two from physics. In short, they are: all the logically possible worlds; all the branches of the quantum state, in an Everettian interpretation of quantum theory; and all the bubbles of inflationary cosmology. For each proposal, I choose one main philosophical question to discuss in depth. They are, respectively: what is a possible world; what is chance; and what is explanation. But before treating these proposals and their associated questions, I set the stage by reviewing physics and philosophy from about 1600 to about 1900; and a final Chapter compares and contrasts the proposals.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2505.23639,
title = {The Multiverse: a Philosophical Introduction},
author = {Jeremy Butterfield},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.23639},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
179 pages. This is the accepted version of a book that will be published by University of Calgary Press, and British Society for the Philosophy of Science Open Access series. It will be published in an Open Access digital format, with a CC-BY-NCND 4.0 Creative Commons license: so that it is now, and will be, available freely to readers everywhere