Dr Matt Farr
BA (Southampton), MA (Bristol), PhD (Bristol)
Special Supervisor
College Roles
- Special Supervisor in History & Philosophy of Science
University Roles
- Teaching and Research Associate, Department of History and Philosophy of Science.
Contact
Email: mwef2@cam.ac.uk
Biography
Dr Matt Farr is a philosopher of science specialising in the nature of time and causality. Matt is a Teaching and Research Associate in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, where he lectures on the philosophy of physics, philosophy of psychiatry, scientific explanation, and wider issues in the philosophy of science.
Matt’s first degree was in Philosophy at the University of Southampton, before going on to receive an MA and PhD in Philosophy at the University of Bristol. Prior to joining the University of Cambridge, Matt held Postdoctoral Research Fellowships at the University of Sydney and University of Queensland.
Research Interests
Matt’s research explores the role played by basic metaphysical concepts like time and causation in scientific theories. For example, what properties of time need to be assumed in order to make sense of the world, and what questions about time and causation can be answered through experiment? Much of Matt’s work has focussed on the direction of time: e.g. in what sense do things in the world ‘go’ from earlier to later, and what role does this play in our understanding and experience of the world? He is currently writing a book defending the ‘C-theory’ of time, the idea that time is fundamentally directionless.