Possibility Spaces in Cosmology, Biology, and Beyond | Michael Levin and George F. R. Ellis
In this dialogue, Michael Levin (Tufts University) and George F. R. Ellis (University of Cape Town) explore the curious and profound question of “possibility spaces”—those unseen domains that shape what can emerge in cosmology, biology, and beyond. What are these possibility spaces? How do we come to know them? In what forms do they exist—and perhaps most intriguingly, why do they exist at all? Both Levin and Ellis have argued that possibility spaces are not merely invented, but discovered—in some sense deeply Platonic, yet empirically discoverable through science. This conversation moderated by Andrew M. Davis examines how such spaces bridge the domains of philosophy, physics, and biology, challenging our assumptions about where science ends and metaphysics begins. Are there ethical or moral dimensions to these possibility spaces? What might they reveal about the nature of mind in nature, and the creative unfolding of the cosmos itself? We hope you enjoy this wide-ranging dialogue at the intersection of science, philosophy, and the deep structure of reality! About the Speakers: Dr. Michael Levin is the Vannevar Bush Distinguished Professor of Biology at Tufts University and Director of the Allen Discovery Center. His background is in computer science and biology, and his group works at the intersection of developmental biophysics, computer science, and cognitive science. He is primarily interested in how intelligence self-organizes in a diverse range of natural, engineered, and hybrid embodiments. Levin has been developing a framework for recognizing and communicating with unconventional cognitive systems; applied to the collective intelligence of cell groups undergoing morphogenesis, these ideas have allowed the Levin lab to develop new applications in birth defects, organ regeneration, and cancer suppression. His lab also produces synthetic life forms, such as Xenobots and Anthrobots, as exploration platforms for patterns of form and behavior in space of possibilities that in-forms systems ranging from simple algorithms to complex animal life. Dr. George Ellis, FRS, is Professor Emeritus of Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town. He obtained his PhD at the University of Cambridge, where he worked on general relativity theory and cosmology. He has been based at the University of Cape Town since 1974, but has been visiting Professor at Texas, Chicago, Hamburg, Boston, Edmonton, London, and Oxford, and for a while, was Professor of Cosmic Physics at the International School of Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy. In recent years he has been working on the philosophy of cosmology and the emergence of complexity, the nature of causation, and aspects of neuroscience. His books include The Large Scale Structure of Space Time written with Stephen Hawking, Downward Causation and the Neurobiology of Free Will (Ed, with N Murphy and T O’Connor), How Can Physics Underlie the Mind, and Beyond Evolutionary Psychology (written with Mark Solms). Dr. Andrew M. Davis is an American process philosopher, theologian, and scholar of the cosmos. He is Research and Academic Director for the Center for Process Studies, where he researches, writes, teaches, and organizes conferences on various aspects of process-relational thought. An advocate of metaphysics and meaning in a hospitable universe, he approaches philosophy as the endeavor to systematically think through what reality must be like—because we are a part of it. He is author, editor, and co-editor of nearly a dozen books, including Mind, Value, and Cosmos: On the Relational Nature of Ultimacy (2020); Process Cosmology: New Integrations in Science and Philosophy (2022); Metaphysics of Exo-Life: Toward a Constructive Whiteheadian Cosmotheology (2023); and Whitehead and Teilhard: From Organism to Omega (2025). His forthcoming book is a comprehensive yet conversational introduction to Alfred North Whitehead titled Whitehead’s Universe: A Prismatic Introduction. Follow his work at andrewmdavis.info Resources: Disgust as a Primary Emotional System and Its Clinical Relevance: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.14... Arrival of the Fittest: Solving Evolution’s Greatest Puzzle: https://bookshop.org/a/96629/97816172... On the Moral Nature of the Universe: Theology, Cosmology, and Ethics: https://www.amazon.com/Moral-Nature-U... ————————————— The Center for Process Studies (CPS) is a nonprofit think-tank that conducts research and provides educational resources on holistic thinking for the advancement of social and environmental wellbeing (a.k.a. process studies). Follow us: Facebook: / centerforprocessstudies Instagram: / ctr4process BlueSky: @ctr4process.bsky.social LinkedIn: / ctr4process #philosophy #biology #cosmology
