Laws of nature in a timeless, holographic universe

Abstract Recent proposals in theoretical cosmology have important implications for a longstanding debate in the philosophy of science about laws of nature. In this paper, we examine a no-boundary proposal, a series of early symmetry-breaking transitions, and a holographically emergent dynamical law from three-dimensional entanglement relations. We argue that these proposals, while speculative, are best understood within the Humean tradition of laws of nature, according to which laws describe, rather than govern the events within the universe.