The emergence of spacetime: what role for functionalism?

Abstract

Among the various attempts to formulate a theory of quantum gravity, a class of approaches suggests that spacetime, as modeled by general relativity, is destined to fade away. A major issue becomes then to identify which structures may inhabit the more fundamental, non-spatiotemporal environment, as well as to explain the relationship with the higher-level spatiotemporal physics. Recently, it has been suggested that a certain understanding of functionalism is the proper tool to suitably account for the recovery of spacetime. Here the viability and usefulness of such a conceptual strategy is explored, by looking at the various levels of spacetime emergence a theory of quantum gravity is expected to deal with. Our conclusion will be that, while its viability is clear also in a quantum gravity context, the import of spacetime functionalism remains rather unsettled.