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SUMMARY:On the ubiquity of entropy. Nietzschean reflections on recurrence 
 and time reversion in science and science fiction - Miguel Vatter (Deakin 
 University)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20240611T143000
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20240611T160000
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b1b7f4a1-bd0f-4d72-858d-e972bd57fbe0/
DESCRIPTION:Is there anything more theological than late modern scientific
  speculations on the birth(s) and end(s) of the universe? By theology I me
 an the one after Nietzsche’s proclaimed ‘death of God\,’ with the re
 -divinization or trans-humanization of Man as its corollary. It has not es
 caped the attention of recent scientific popularizers that Nietzsche’s d
 octrines\, and in particular that of eternal recurrence\, coincide with th
 e birth of thermodynamics\, the discovery of entropy and its statistical-m
 echanical explanation given by Boltzmann. In this talk I discuss how Boltz
 mann’s dramatic struggles with ‘Maxwell’s demon’ prepared the grou
 nd for the renewal in the 20th century of Nietzsche’s hypothesis of eter
 nal recurrence and temporal reversal\, giving rise to something like a lat
 e modern mythology or theology of entropy. In my talk I will illustrate my
  hypothesis through an interpretation of Philip K. Dick’s novel Ubik as 
 a thermodynamical fable in which the fundamental problem posed by entropy\
 , namely\, how to explain irreversible physical processes by appealing onl
 y to time-reversible physical laws\, offers the central theoretical framew
 ork of the novel.\nSpeakers:\nMiguel Vatter (Deakin University)
LOCATION:New College (Room 'Spooner 2' in Sacher Buildings)\, Holywell Str
 eet OX1 3BN
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/b1b7f4a1-bd0f-4d72-858d-e972bd57fbe0/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:On the ubiquity of entropy. Nietzschean reflections on re
 currence and time reversion in science and science fiction - Miguel Vatter
  (Deakin University)
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