Simon Friederich

PUBLICATIONS

Books

Multiverse Theories: A Philosophical Perspective S. Friederich Cambridge University Press (2021), reviewed by P. Helbig for The Observatory and by N. Overduin for Theology and History,

Interpreting Quantum Theory: A Therapeutic Approach S. Friederich Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan (2014), reviewed by F. Boge, Erkenntnis, 82, 443-449 (2017).

Blog entries, opinion pieces and interviews (selection)

AI could lead take over gradually (in German)..

My struggles with ethical eating: How I lost my way with food.

In defence of a high energy future (with Maarten Boudry), nederlandse versie (NRC) hier .

For Germany, reconsidering nuclear energy is an ethical duty (with Maarten Boudry), deutsche Version (Die Welt) hier.

Self-locating beliefs won't move Everett's mountain (with Richard Dawid).

Are we living in a multiverse? We we might -- and why we might never know.

Is Michael Shellenberger's "Apocalypse Never" an ecomodernist work?.

The Covid wake-up call: protecting humanity against global disasters (with Maarten Boudry).

A rare universe? The multiverse debate in physics through the lens of philosophy.

Multiverse theories in physics from the vantage point of philosophy.

Academic articles

Reproducing EPR correlations without superluminal signalling: backward conditional probabilities and Statistical Independence S. Friederich, EPL (forthcoming).

Kochen-Specker non-contextuality through the lens of quantization S. Friederich and M. Tyagi, (preprint).

Causation, cluelessness, and the long term S. Friederich, Ergo, 12:17 (2025).

The selfish machine? On the power and limitation of natural selection to understand the development of advanced AI M. Boudry and S. Friederich, Philosophical Studies (2024).

Symbiosis, not alignment, as the goal for liberal democracies in the transition to artificial general intelligence S. Friederich, AI and Ethics, 4:315-324 (2024).

Norms for academic writing in the era of advanced AI S. Friederich and J. Symons, Digital Society, 2:48 (2023).

The future of intelligence in the universe: a call for humility S. Friederich and S. Wenmackers, International Journal of Astrobiology, 22:414-427.

Introducing the Q-based interpretation of quantum mechanics S. Friederich, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 75:769-795.

Operationalising sustainability? Why sustainability fails as an investment criterion for safeguarding the future S. Friederich and J. Symons, Global Policy, 14:61-71 (2023).

Tensions within energy justice: when global energy governance amplifies inequality J. Symons and S. Friederich, Historical Social Research, 74(4) (2022).

Ethics of nuclear energy in times of climate change: escaping the collective action problem S. Friederich and M. Boudry, Philosophy and Technology, 35, 30 (2022).

Causation as a high-level affair S. Friederich and S. Mukherjee, Top-down causation and emergence, J. Voosholz and M. Gabriel (eds.), Springer, 297-304 (2017). See here.

Epistemic separability and Everettian branching---a critique of Sebens and Carroll R. Dawid and S. Friederich, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 73:711-721 (2022).

Retrocausality in quantum mechanics S. Friederich and P. W. Evans, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. N. Zalta (ed.), Winter 2023 edition.

A new fine-tuning argument for the multiverse S. Friederich, Foundations of Physics, 94, 1011-1021 (2019).

Reconsidering the inverse gambler's fallacy charge against the fine-tuning argument for the multiverse S. Friederich Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 50, 29-41 (2019).

Fine-tuning as old evidence, double-counting, and the multiverse S. Friederich International Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 31, 363-377 (2017).

Fine-tuning S. Friederich The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, E. N. Zalta (ed.), Fall 2017 edition.

Resolving the observer reference class problem in cosmology S. Friederich Physical Review D, 95, 123520 (2017).

The asymptotic safety scenario for quantum gravity---an appraisal S. Friederich forthcoming inStudies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics, 63, 65-73.

Symmetries and the identity of physical states S. Friederich EPSA 2015 Selected Papers, M. Massimi, J.-W. Romeijn and G. Schurz (eds.), Springer, 153-165 (2017). See here.

Choosing Beauty S. Friederich Logique et Analyse, 60(240), 449-463 (2017).

Self-locating belief and causal structure S. Friederich Grazer Philosophische Studien, 93, 319-345 (2016) See here

Symmetry, empirical equivalence, and identity S. Friederich British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 66:537-559 (2015) See here

Re-thinking local causality S. Friederich Synthese, 192, 221-240 (2015) See here

Philosophical perspectives on ad hoc-hypotheses and the Higgs mechanism S. Friederich, R. Harlander, K. Karaca the definitive version is Synthese, 191, 3897-3917 (2014) See here

Warum die Mathematik keine ontologische Grundlegung braucht -- Wittgenstein und die axiomatische Methode S. Friederich Wittgenstein-Studien 5, 163-178 (2014) See here for the citable version.

A philosophical look at the Higgs mechanism S. Friederich Journal for General Philosophy of Science, 45, 335-350 (2014) See here

Interpreting Heisenberg interpreting quantum states S. Friederich Philosophia Naturalis 50, 85-114 (2013) See here

Gauge symmetry breaking in gauge theories -- In search of clarification S. Friederich European Journal for Philosophy of Science 3, 157-182 (2013) See here

In defence of non-ontic accounts of quantum states S. Friederich Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 44, 77-92 (2013) See here

Quantum theory as a method -- the Rule Perspective S. Friederich New Vistas on Old Problems: Recent Approaches to the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics, T. Sauer and A. Wüthrich, Edition Open Access, 121-138 (2013) See here

How to spell out the epistemic conception of quantum states S. Friederich Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 42, 149-157 (2011) See here

Motivating Wittgenstein's perspective on mathematical sentences as norms S. Friederich Philosophia Mathematica 19, 1-19 (2011) See here

Functional renormalization for spontaneous symmetry breaking in the Hubbard model S. Friederich, H. C. Krahl, C. Wetterich Physical Review B 83, 155125 (2011)

Structuralism and meta-mathematics S. Friederich Erkenntnis 73 (1), 67-81 (2010) See here

Four-point vertex in the Hubbard model and partial bosonization S. Friederich, H. C. Krahl, C. Wetterich Physical Review B 81, 235108 (2010)

Incommensurate antiferromagnetic fluctuations in the two-dimensional Hubbard model H. C. Krahl, S. Friederich, C. Wetterich Physical Review B 80, 014436 (2009)

Spin-charge separation in transport through Luttinger liquid rings S. Friederich, V. Meden Physical Review B 77, 195122 (2008)

Inflating truthmakers: A critique of the primitive notion of truthmaking in Heil's ontological picture S. Friederich and G. Tuzet in M. Esfeld (ed.), John Heil: Symposium on his ontological point of view, Ontos, Frankfurt a. M. (2006)

Editorial

Particle physics after the Higgs discovery: Philosophical perspectives S. Friederich and D. Lehmkuhl Studies in History and Philosophy of Modern Physics 51, 69-70 (2015) See here

Reviews

At the precipice now, in eternal safety thereafter? S. Friederich and E. Aebischer Metascience 30, 135-139 (2021).

Pristinism under pressure --- Ruetsche on the interpretation of quantum theories S. Friederich Erkenntnis 78, 1205-1212 (2013) See here (open access)

Hans-Johann Glock und John Hyman (Hg.), Wittgenstein and Analytic Philosophy, Essays for P.M.S. Hacker S. Friederich Philosophischer Literaturanzeiger 62 (2009) See here for a non-citable version.

Physics PhD Thesis

Functional renormalization for antiferromagnetism and superconductivity n the Hubbard model S. Friederich revised and extended version published as "Functional renormalization for spontaneous symmetry breaking: An investigation of antiferromagnetism and superconductivity in the two-dimensional Hubbard model", Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften (2011)