Alle afleveringen
305 afleveringen, van nieuw naar oud
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105 - Luciano Floridi: The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence
23 juni 2023 · 1 uur 1 min
Luciano Floridi is the Oxford Internet Institute’s Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Information at the University of Oxford, Distinguished Research Fellow of the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics of the Faculty of Philosophy, and Research Associate and Fellow in Information Policy of the Department of Computer Science. Beginning in the fall, he will be the Founding Director of the Digital Ethics Center and Professor of Cognitive Science at Yale University. For much of the past twenty-five years Luciano has been developing the philosophy of information as its own free-standing discipline within the philosophical world. In this episode he and Robinson delve into just one small corner of the subject. They talk about Luciano’s view of artificial intelligence as a novel form of agency before turning to some future applications of AI and the novel ethical considerations its use raises in the modern world. Lees meer
Luciano’s Website: https://www.philosophyofinformation.net
Luciano’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Floridi
Information: A Very Short Introduction: https://a.co/d/5Jgq1wS
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:04 Introduction
04:58 Luciano’s Tetralogy
09:27 Artificial Intelligence as a New Form of Agency
26:49 Future Applications of AI
32:50 Ethics and Levels of Explanation
46:09 The Ethics of AI
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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104 - Nicholas Christakis: Evolutionary Biology & Society’s Genetic Underpinning
21 juni 2023 · 1 uur 24 min
Nicholas Christakis is the Sterling Professor of Social and Natural Science at Yale University, where he is also Director of the Human Nature Lab and Co-Director of the Yale Institute for Network Science. Nicholas is both a sociologist and a physician; after completing his undergraduate at Yale in biology, he received an M.D. and M.P.H. from Harvard and then a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania. Nicholas has written numerous books, including Apollo’s Arrow: The Profound and Enduring Impact of Coronavirus on the Way We Live (Little, Brown Spark, 2020) and Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society (Little, Brown Spark, 2019), and this latter book is the subject of this episode. Robinson and Nicholas first discuss the way that genetics manifest themselves in behavior before turning to the way that specific behaviors and tendencies have evolved in humans to promote the flourishing of societies. They then talk about some particular such behaviors and tendencies, like in-group bias and hierarchy, before turning to some implications of the view for how societies ought or ought not to be structured. Lees meer
Nicholas’s Website: https://www.humannaturelab.net
Nicholas’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/NAChristakis
Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society: https://a.co/d/4BeJyS0
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:16 Introduction
04:28 The Motivation Behind Blueprint
23:02 The Genetic Basis of Human Societies
28:27 What Is Network Topology?
38:28 Trade-Complementarity
42:07 The Cultural Universality of Love
48:12 The Eight Cultural Universals
01:02:06 Is Hierarchy Natural?
01:07:13 Human In-Group Bias
01:12:23 Is There a Relationship Between Genes and Social Status?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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103 - Brad Schoenfeld: Muscular Hypertrophy and Maximizing Muscle Growth
18 juni 2023 · 1 uur 6 min
Brad Schoenfeld is Professor of Exercise Science in the Department of Heath Promotion and Nutrition Sciences at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, where he serves as the graduate director the Human Performance and Fitness Program. Brad is one of the foremost—if not the foremost—authorities on human muscular development, and author of the textbook Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy. In this episode, Robinson and Brad talk first about the foundations of hypertrophy on a theoretical level (what makes muscles grow) before moving on to some applications of these principles in the gym. Lees meer
Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy: https://a.co/d/fRoyKDb
Brad’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BradSchoenfeld
Brad’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradschoenfeldphd/?hl=en
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:11 Introduction
07:31 Muscular Hypertrophy and Hyperplasia
15:24 Applicability of Animal Studies
17:42 Satellite Cells
24:10 Three Factors of Muscle Growth
33:39 The Most Important Gym Variables for Maximizing Muscle Growth
44:32 Muscle Stress
50:07 Muscle Action and Range of Motion
58:20 New Frontiers
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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102 - Stephen Wolfram: Artificial Intelligence, ChatGPT, and Philosophy of Math
16 juni 2023 · 1 uur 58 min
Stephen Wolfram is the founder and CEO of Wolfram Research, and the creator of Mathematica, Wolfram|Alpha, and the Wolfram Language. He received his PhD in theoretical physics from Caltech when he was twenty years old. In addition to his work at the helm of Wolfram Research, he writes and researches widely across computer science, physics, mathematics, and more. Most recently, Stephen is the author of What Is ChatGPT Doing…and Why Does It Work? (2023). Robinson and Stephen begin by discussing just this, before moving on to some more theoretical questions about intelligence in general and artificial intelligence in particular. Then, after a long digression on the philosophy of mathematics and the foundations of computation, they turn to the ways in which ChatGPT may impact research in STEM fields and beyond. Lees meer
What Is ChatGPT Doing…and Why Does It Work?: https://a.co/d/aADrGGh
Stephen’s Website: https://www.stephenwolfram.com
Stephen’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/stephen_wolfram
Wolfram Research on YouTube: https://a.co/d/aADrGGh
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:29 Introduction
03:42 How Does ChatGPT Work?
11:58 Does ChatGPT Pass the Turing Test?
34:33 Will Philosophy Be a Growth Industry?
41:02 Will Mathematicians be Replaced by Computers?
49:26 What is the Ruliad?
01:08:57 Philosophy of Mathematics?
01:32:54 LLMs and STEM
01:43:16 Returning to ChatGPT and AI
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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101 - Paul Bloom: Freud, Mental Illness, Psychoanalysis, and Cognitive Biases
13 juni 2023 · 1 uur 57 min
Paul Bloom is Brooks and Suzanne Ragen Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Yale University and Professor of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He works quite broadly in psychology, and studies how children and adults make sense of the world, with special focus on pleasure, morality, religion, fiction, and art. Paul is the author of seven books, most recently Psych: The Story of the Human Mind, some of the topics of which constitute the subject of this episode. More particularly, Paul and Robinson discuss Freud’s legacy in contemporary psychology, mental illness, human rationality and irrationality, and the roots of motivation. Paul has also recently been producing a fantastic podcast with his friend and colleague David Pizarro—also called Psych—that covers many of the topics in introductory courses to psychology, and it comes highly recommended. Lees meer
Psych (Book): https://a.co/d/eYNR4q7
Psych (Podcast): https://psych.fireside.fm
Paul’s Website: https://paulbloom.net
Paul’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulbloomatyale
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:10 Introduction
06:09 Writing Psych
08:30 What is Mental Illness?
23:40 Freud versus Contemporary Psychology
36:31 Psychoanalysis versus Contemporary Therapeutic Modalities
52:13 Is Man THE Rational Animal?
58:24 The Psychological Roots of Our Irrationality
01:17:46 The My-Side Bias and Political Gridlock
01:24:47 The Psychological Roots of Human Motivation
01:52:24 Susan Carey
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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100 - Steven Pinker: Rationality, Enlightenment, and Free Speech
11 juni 2023 · 1 uur 8 min
Steven Pinker is Johnstone Family Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. He is an experimental cognitive psychologist who writes on language, mind, and human nature. In this episode—the hundredth of Robinson’s Podcast (!)—Robinson and Steve talk about his recent book Rationality: What It Is, Why It Seems Scarce, Why It Matters (Penguin, 2022), which is linked below. More particularly, they discuss rationality’s evolutionary basis, how it is subverted by conspiratorial thinking and other dimensions of the “mythology mindset”, how it relates to enlightenment and human progress, and the state of free speech at Harvard and in the academic world at large. Lees meer
Rationality: https://a.co/d/9N2uFyr
Steven’s Website: https://stevenpinker.com
Steven’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sapinker
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:58 Introduction
06:31 The Importance of Rationality
10:16 The Connection Between Language and Rationality
14:18 Rationality and Human Progress
20:09 The Evolution of Rationality and Irrationality
34:08 Conspiracy Theories and the Mythology Mindset
40:13 The Madness of Crowds
49:42 Free Speech, Enlightenment, and Rationality
55:55 Free Speech Versus Social Justice
01:03:03 Academic Freedom at Harvard
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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99 - Nancy Sherman: Stoicism, Military Ethics, and War
9 juni 2023 · 1 uur 13 min
Nancy Sherman is Distinguished University Professor and Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University. Before that, she taught at Yale and did her graduate work in ancient philosophy at Harvard University. Nancy has worked broadly across value theory and ancient philosophy, writing on such varied topics as military ethics, moral psychology, the emotions, and Stoicism. The occasion for this episode is Nancy’s recent book, Stoic Wisdom: Ancient Lessons for Modern Resilience (Oxford, 2021), which is now available in paperback, and linked below. Nancy and Robinson discuss what contemporary takes on Stoicism get wrong—they miss the emphasis on connection and community—as well as the relationship between Stoicism and Aristotle, the military, and mental health. Lees meer
Stoic Wisdom: https://a.co/d/7UAGj8i
Nancy’s Website: https://www.nancysherman.com
Nancy’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/drnancysherman
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode
00:44 Introduction
03:20 Nancy’s Interest in Stoicism and the Military
10:35 Stoicism and Life Hacks
21:00 Aristotelian and Stoic Ethics
30:05 Stoic Metaethics
34:33 Stoicism and War
45:19 Stoicism and Military Education
51:57 Nancy’s Mental Health Experience
59:43 Stoic Wisdom
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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98 - Dani S. Bassett & Perry Zurn: Curiosity, Philosophy, and Network Theory
7 juni 2023 · 1 uur 5 min
Dani S. Bassett is the J. Peter Skirkanich Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania. Perry Zurn is Provost Associate Professor of Philosophy at American University. Dani and Perry both do a great deal of interdisciplinary work within their fields, but Dani is best known for her work in systems neuroscience, while Perry’s research is primarily in political philosophy. The subject of this episode, however—though systems neuroscience and political philosophy both make their appearances—is Dani and Perry’s book, Curious Minds: The Power of Connection (MIT, 2022). While it wouldn’t be immediately apparent from their different fields of study, Dani and Perry are in fact identical twins, and they write that their book “represents the thought of one mind and two bodies” as they explore the nature of curiosity from both philosophical and neuroscientific perspectives, developing an account of curiosity that stresses the relationship between ideas and people. Robinson, Dani, and Perry discuss complex systems, how curiosity has been studied from a variety of different academic perspectives, the three curiosity-embodying archetypes they have identified, knowledge networks, large language models, and more. Lees meer
Curious Minds: https://a.co/d/3MeVY7m
Dani’s Website: http://www.danisbassett.com
Perry’s Website: https://www.perryzurn.com
Dani’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/DaniSBassett
Perry’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/perryzurn
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:52 Introduction
03:42 Human Curiosity?
06:07 Complex Systems
07:22 Curiosity from a Psychological Perspective
13:09 A Network Account of Curiosity
18:40 Foucault and Great Lakes Philosophy
29:39 Building Knowledge Networks
43:08 Walks through Knowledge Networks
57:25 Curiosity, Large Language Models, and Education
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations wi…
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97 - Brian Leiter: Karl Marx, Ideology, and Historical Materialism
4 juni 2023 · 1 uur 18 min
Brian Leiter is Karl N. Llewellyn Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Chicago Law School, founder and Director of Chicago’s Center for Law, Philosophy & Human Values, and is best known in the philosophical world for his work on Nietzsche and legal philosophy. He is the founding editor of the Routledge Philosophers book series, Oxford Studies in Philosophy of Law, and Philosophical Gourmet Report, which is the canonical—as well as extremely helpful and illuminating—ranking of philosophy departments and PhD programs in the English-speaking world. He also maintains the world’s most popular philosophy blog, Leiter Reports. In this episode, Robinson and Brian discuss Karl Marx and a current book he is co-writing with Jaime Edwards for the Routledge Philosophers book series. Among the topics they discuss are Historical Materialism, ideology, Marx’s critique of capitalism, and exploitation. Brian’s latest book is Moral Psychology with Nietzsche (Oxford, 2021). Lees meer
Brian’s Website: https://www.brianleiter.net
Brian’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BrianLeiter
Leiter Reports: https://leiterreports.typepad.com
Moral Psychology with Nietzsche: https://a.co/d/3dJZBeZ
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:50 Introduction
06:38 Brian’s Interest in Marx
13:22 Historical Materialism
33:06 Big Business and Diversity
40:16 Ideology
58:04 Is Historical Materialism True?
01:01:45 Exploitation
01:11:38 Is Brian a Marxist?
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96 - Jody Azzouni: Knowledge and Skepticism
31 mei 2023 · 1 uur 34 min
Jody Azzouni is Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. While Jody is best known for his nominalist stance in the philosophy of mathematics, he is also an author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. This is Jody’s third appearance on the show. On his first appearance, episode #45, he and Robinson spoke about the debate between nominalists and platonists in the philosophy of mathematics, Jody’s own deflationary stance, and some adjacent concerns about ontological commitment in both formal and informal languages. On his second appearance, episode #75, they spoke about logic, natural languages, and formal languages, and mathematics. And in this episode, they shift topics entirely, discussing Jody’s upcoming book, Challenging Knowledge, which develops an original account in epistemology that seeks to thwart skeptic challenges, and which also builds off of Jody’s most recent book, Attributing Knowledge: What it Means to Know Something (Oxford, 2020). Lees meer
Jody’s Website: https://jodyazzouni.com
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:11 Introduction
04:31 Jody and Epistemology
09:17 Foundationalism, Coherentism, and Infinitism
17:37 Knowledge and Usage
30:37 Metaknowledge and Introspection
41:43 Sortability and Traceability
50:49 Starting Place Epistemology
59:06 Cartesian Skepticism
01:06:00 Pyrrhonic Skepticism
01:14:16 The Difficulty of Epistemology and Mathematics
01:18:32 Internalism and Externalism
01:22:47 Fallibility
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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95 - Achille Varzi: What Is Mereology?
28 mei 2023 · 3 uur 45 min
Achille Varzi is the John Dewey Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and Bruno Kessler Honorary Professor at the University of Trento. He is a renowned metaphysicist and logician, and widely regarded as the world’s leading mereologist. Achille—or Varzi, as he is affectionately known around the halls of Columbia’s philosophy department—is also an immensely important philosophical figure for Robinson, and a prior denizen of this podcast multiverse (see episode 47 for Achille’s introduction to metaphysics and nominalism). In this installment, however, Robinson and Varzi delve deep into the history, logic, and metaphysics of mereology, the theory of parts and the parthood relation. For a more in-depth and rigorous discussion of the material covered in this episode (because yes, this is in fact possible!), check out Achille and A.J. Cotnoir’s fantastic monograph on the subject, linked below: Lees meer
Mereology (Oxford, 2021): https://a.co/d/gFKrO3U
Mereology (SEP): https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mereology/
Achille’s Website: http://www.columbia.edu/~av72/
Correction: Achille mistakenly refers to Verity Harte, author of Plato on Parts and Wholes, as Valery Harte.
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
1:02 Introduction
4:44 Achille’s Start in Mereology
8:19 The Etymology of Mereology
18:00 What is Mereology?
20:03 Ancient Mereology
30:04 Medieval Mereology and the Liar Paradox
47:33 Husserl’s Formal Ontology
1:10:28 Leśniewski and the Formalization of Mereology
1:21:25 Whitehead, Leonard & Goodman, and the History of Mereology
1:34:26 The Language of Mereology
1:39:44 Mereology and the Axiomatic Method
1:47:46 More on the Language of Mereology
1:52:37 The Mereological Formalism
2:16:42 Composition
2:29:35 Misconceptions about Mereological Fusion
3:01:10 Gunk, Junk, and Hunk
3:10:15 Applications of Mereology
3:15:50 Mereological Pluralism
3:31:43 Mereotopology and the Ordering Axioms
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt r…
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94 - Alva Noë: Art, Philosophy, and The Entanglement
26 mei 2023 · 1 uur 33 min
Alva Noë is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy at the University of California, Berkeley, where he researches the philosophy of mind—primarily focusing on perception and consciousness—and the philosophy of art. In this episode, Robinson and Alva discuss the latter, for while Alva is already the author of two books in the area—Strange Tools: Art and Human Nature (Farrar Strauss and Giroux, 2015) and Look: Dispatches from the Art World (Oxford, 2021)—June 23, 2023 will mark the release of a new work, The Entanglement: How Art and Philosophy Make Us What We Are (Princeton University Press). Robinson and Alva touch on topics from all three works, including the interrelationship between art, philosophy, phenomenology, and neuroscience. Lees meer
Alva’s Website: http://www.alvanoe.com
Alva’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/alvanoe
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:38 Introduction
04:08 Mind and Art
10:05 Knowledge and Making
18:39 Attention and Rembrandt
31:28 Viewer and Creator
41:29 Art as a Philosophical Practice
47:00 Neuroscience
57:09 The Entanglement
01:17:15 Phenomenology, Art, and Analytic Philosophy
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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93 - Havi Carel: The Phenomenology of Illness
23 mei 2023 · 1 uur 11 min
Havi Carel is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol, where she studies illness and its relationship to philosophy. Her research draws largely on phenomenology, a philosophical approach most closely associated with the Continental tradition of philosophy, and that relies heavily on perception and experience. In this episode Robinson and Havi discuss her own illness, LAM, and how it affects her own work, along with many other topics related to illness, such as Freud, mental health, and breathlessness. Lees meer
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:24 Introduction
03:31 LAM and Illness
08:14 Continental Philosophy, Analytic Philosophy, and Phenomenology
22:12 Illness, Sickness, and Disease
26:36 Limitations of Writing on Phenomenology and Illness
42:34 Illness and Philosophy
51:03 Freud and the Phenomenology of Illness
56:41 Breathing and Breathlessness
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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92 - Joan Bagaria: What Is Set Theory?
21 mei 2023 · 2 uur 6 min
Joan Bagaria is ICREA Research Professor in the Department of Experimental Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Barcelona. He is a mathematical logician who works in set theory, which is the branch of mathematics that not only specializes in the investigation of infinity but serves as the foundation for the rest of mathematics—what this means, and its implications, are explored in the episode. Joan and Robinson discuss all things set theory, beginning with its origins in the mind of Georg Cantor, its development in the 20th century, some philosophical questions, and some current outstanding problems. They also briefly touch on Catalan independence, a topic dear to Joan’s heart. Lees meer
Joan’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/BagariaJoan
Set Theory: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/set-theory/
The Early Development of Set Theory: https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=settheory-early
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:01 Introduction
06:18 Joan and Set Theory
09:11 The Development of Set Theory
21:08 Naive Set Theory and Axiomatic Set Theory
30:52 Zermelo-Fraenkel Set Theory with Choice
46:35 Metaphysics and Epistemology
01:03:06 Set Theory as the Foundation of Mathematics
01:09:48 The Continuum Problem
01:16:13 Settling the Continuum Problem
01:35:21 Alternative Set Theories
01:43:37 Alternative Foundations
01:47:53 Catalan IndependenceRobinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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91 - John Perry: Procrastination, Personal Identity, and the Self
19 mei 2023 · 2 uur 1 min
John Perry is Henry Waldgrave Stuart Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Stanford University. He was also the co-host with Ken Taylor of the nationally syndicated radio show Philosophy Talk. John has worked in the philosophy of language, mind, and metaphysics, and is well-known for his famous Slingshot Argument with John Barwise. Robinson and John first talk about his book The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging and Postponing. They then turn to some of his work on identity, personal identity, and the self. Lees meer
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:58 Introduction
02:43 In Defense of Procrastination
10:45 Dialogues and Philosophical Writing
23:17 Identity and Personal Identity
35:37 Memory and Personal Identity
47:39 The Body-Identity Theory
54:18 Parfit and Lewis on Identity
01:03:31 John and the Memory Theory
01:21:46 Death and Identity
01:32:46 Personhood and the Self
01:54:54 Could You Be Someone Else?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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90 - David Papineau: The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience
16 mei 2023 · 1 uur 32 min
David Papineau is Professor of Philosophy of Science at King’s College London. He also teaches at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and before that he lectured in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge. David’s last appearance on the podcast was episode 62, where he and Robinson spoke about realism, antirealism, and the philosophy of science. This time, however, they discuss the content of his most recent book, The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience (OUP 2021), which is linked below. Lees meer
The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience: https://a.co/d/6hID7Lf
David’s Website: https://www.davidpapineau.co.uk
Twitter: @davidpapineau
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:38 Introduction
02:52 David’s Philosophical Interests
08:16 Distinguishing Sensory and Perceptual Experience
21:57 Naive Realism and the Metaphysics of Sensory Experience
34:09 Representationalism and the Metaphysics of Experience
01:02:02 The Transparency of Experience
01:15:28 Objections
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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89 - Graham Harman: Speculative Realism & Philosophy of Art and Architecture
14 mei 2023 · 2 uur 5 min
Graham Harman is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Sci-Arc, the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles. He is one of the leading metaphysicians in the continental tradition of philosophy and an influential philosopher of art. Robinson and Graham discuss his work at the forefront of the speculative realist trend in the contemporary continental world, where he is known for his object-oriented ontology, or OOO. They also talk about the philosophy of art and architecture, touching on figures like H.P. Lovecraft and Duchamp, who Graham has written about extensively in his work. Check out Graham’s latest book, Architecture and Objects, linked below: Lees meer
Architecture and Objects: https://a.co/d/ewHg5Ur
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:54 Introduction
05:22 Graham and Continental Philosophy
13:04 Speculative Realism and Object-Oriented Ontology
27:05 On Debating Slavoj Žižek
30:28 Fictional Objects
34:42 Real and Sensual Objects
52:14 Aesthetics OOO
59:47 Was Performance the First Art?
01:07:53 H.P. Lovecraft and Philosophy
01:17:33 Surrealism, Dada, and Literalism
01:23:19 Architecture, Philosophy, and Metaphysics
01:46:06 Philosophical Formalism and Architecture
02:00:20 Final Thoughts
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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88 - Graham Oppy: Ontological Arguments and the Existence of God
12 mei 2023 · 1 uur 37 min
Graham Oppy is Professor of Philosophy at Monash University. Before that, he did his undergraduate work in Melbourne and his graduate work at Princeton. Though Graham is best known as a philosopher of religion, he has also published on the philosophy of math, language, aesthetics, and more. In this episode, Robinson and Graham begin by discussing the nature of argument: What makes an argument successful? What’s a good argument? How should we think about arguments in areas of deep disagreement? They then move on to a discussion of ontological arguments in the philosophy of religion, where one argues for the existence of god—or gods—without any prior assumptions. Lees meer
Ontological Arguments: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ontological-arguments/
Majesty of Reason: https://www.youtube.com/@MajestyofReason
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:40 Introduction
05:04 Graham and the Philosophy of Religion
11:45 Arguments
14:12 What Makes a Good Argument?
38:00 How to Talk Around Deep Disagreement
48:23 How Arguments Vary Across Disciplines
56:13 Ontological Arguments for the Existence of God
01:31:29 Cosmological Arguments
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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87 - Frank Jackson & Graham Priest: The Philosophy of David Lewis
9 mei 2023 · 1 uur 59 min
Frank Jackson is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. He is best known for the knowledge argument and Mary’s Room—its accompanying thought experiment—but has published widely in the philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language. Graham Priest is a Distinguished Professor in the philosophy department at the CUNY Graduate Center. Like Frank, he is one of the most influential philosophers of the past fifty years, and has done important work on a wide range of topics, ranging from the philosophy of mathematics to logic and eastern philosophy. In this episode, Robinson, Frank, and Graham talk about David Lewis and his immense legacy in the philosophical world. They cover his character—Frank and Graham were friends with him for many years—as well as some of his work, ranging from the thesis of modal realism to Humean supervenience and the philosophy of set theory. Lees meer
David Lewis: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/david-lewis/
Graham’s Website: https://grahampriest.net
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:17 Introduction
07:54 David Lewis as a Friend and Philosopher
24:12 Australian Philosophy
28:53 Lewisian Themes
34:30 Modal Realism
52:43 Kripke and Lewis on Possible Worlds
58:07 Making Use of Possible Worlds
01:23:29 Humean Supervenience
01:38:19 Set Theory and Mereology
01:45:19 Final ThoughtsRobinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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86 - Frances Egan: Mental Representation and Psychological Explanation
7 mei 2023 · 1 uur 35 min
Frances Egan is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers, where she works on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of psychology, and the foundations of cognitive science. Recently she has been researching computational models of cognition and how they relate to representation. Robinson and Frankie talk about the foundations of cognitive science and the nature of mental representations before discussing psychological explanation, different ways of conceiving the mind’s boundaries, and how it interfaces with the rest of the body and environment. Lees meer
Frankie’s Website: https://frances-egan.org/index.html
Mental Representation: https://plato.stanford.edu/ENTRIES/mental-representation/
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
01:21 Introduction
07:10 Frankie and the Philosophy of Mind
11:04 The Foundations of Cognitive Science
13:20 What are Mental Representations?
26:49 Eliminativism and Representations
32:33 A Deflationary Account
40:51 Naturalism and Cognitive Science
55:39 Psychological Explanation
01:03:02 The Extended Mind and Embodied Cognition
01:21:14 The New Mechanists
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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85 - Ernest Lepore: Linguistic Conventions, Slurs, and Philosophy of Language
4 mei 2023 · 1 uur 46 min
Ernest Lepore is a Board of Governors Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers. Though Ernie is best known for his work in the philosophy of language, he has also published on philosophical logic, metaphysics, and the philosophy of mind. Though Robinson and Ernie largely discuss the former, their conversation begins with a bevy of wonderful stories from the profession, as Ernie worked and studied with many of the greatest thinkers—and characters—of twentieth century philosophy, including Ed Gettier, Jerry Fodor, Donald Davidson, Michael Dummett, and W.V.O. Quine. They then turn to some quite general problems in the philosophy language, discussion the relationship between language and thought, meta-linguistic negotiation, and conventions before going through the main arc of his book on slurs jointly authored with Una Stojnic of Princeton University. Though Ernie is the author of too many books and articles to list within the confines of this description, a recent book mentioned many times in the conversation is Imagination and Convention: Distinguishing Grammar and Inference in Language (Oxford University Press, 2015), which Ernie cowrote with Mathew Stone, chair of the Department of Computer Science at Rutgers. Lees meer
OUTLINE
00:00 IN THIS EPISODE
00:38 Introduction
05:33 Ernie’s Interest in the Philosophy of Language
14:17 Working with Ed Gettier, Jerry Fodor, Donald Davidson, and Michael Dummett
30:44 Language, Thought, and Convention
44:44 What is Meta-Linguistic Negotiation?
51:53 What is a Slur?
01:04:10 Philosophical Accounts of Slurs
01:13:50 Pejorative Content Accounts of Slurs
01:21:38 Non-Content Accounts of Slurs
01:30:52 A New Theory of Slurs
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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84 - Chris Potts: Semantics, Pragmatics, and ChatGPT
2 mei 2023 · 1 uur 21 min
Chris Potts is Professor and Chair of the Department of Linguistics at Stanford University, and also Professor by courtesy in the Department of Computer Science at the same. Chris has worked on a wide variety of topics in linguistics throughout his career, but has published on conventional implicature—check out his book, Logic of Conventional Implicatures (Oxford, 2003)—large language models, and compositional reasoning, among many other subjects. Robinson and Chris begin by discussing the relationship between linguistics and philosophy before turning to topics in semantics and pragmatics—references, the principle of compositionality, swearing, and more. After some thoughts on Chomsky’s legacy in linguistics, they talk about the impact of ChatGPT on the classroom and whether large language models are capable of understanding. Lees meer
00:00 In This Episode…
01:13 Introduction
04:16 Chris and Linguistics
12:34 Linguistics and Philosophy
22:43 Proper Names and Reference
27:00 The Principle of Compositionality
41:59 Adjectives, Innateness, and Chomsky
57:36 Quantifiers
01:01:36 Swearing and Linguistics
01:04:42 ChatGPT in the Linguistics Classroom
01:12:00 Does ChatGPT Understand?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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83 - Barry Loewer: Probability, Laws of Nature, and Statistical Mechanics
30 april 2023 · 1 uur 28 min
Barry Loewer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers. Before that he did his PhD in philosophy at Stanford (!). Barry works largely in the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of science, and metaphysics, and is a good friend of and frequent collaborator with another denizen of the Robinson’s Podcast universe, David Albert. It is their joint work on the “Mentaculus,” something approximating a “probability map of the universe,” that occupies much of the discussion in this episode. Robinson and Barry also talk about statistical mechanics and his upcoming book, What Breathes Fire into the Equations (Oxford University Press, to be released fall 2023 or early 2024), which is about laws, chances, and fundamental ontology. Check out Barry’s book on David: Essays on David Albert’s Time and Chance. Lees meer
Background on Counterfactuals: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/counterfactuals/
Background on Statistical Mechanics: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/statphys-statmech/
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:29 Introduction
06:21 Barry‘s Road to the Philosophy of Physics
28:37 Fire in the Equations
43:16 Conditional Probability
54:11 Non-Humean and Humean Accounts of Laws
01:06:44 Probability
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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82 - Jonathan Wolff: Cities, States, and Political Philosophy
27 april 2023 · 1 uur 54 min
Jonathan Wolff is Alfred Landecker Professor of Values and Public Policy at the University of Oxford. He works in numerous areas of political philosophy. Some topics he has researched include equality and poverty, and he has worked in applied areas like Covid policy and gambling. In this episode, Jonathan and Robinson begin with a discussion of the nature of political philosophy before turning to some modern historical perspectives on the state, starting with Hobbes and traveling up through Marx and Rawls. They then turn to his current work in partnership with Avner de-Shalit on cities and equality. Some of Jonathan’s books include Disadvantage (Oxford, 2007), An Introduction to Political Philosophy (Oxford, 1996, and soon to be in its fourth edition), and Why Read Marx Today? (Oxford, 2002). Lees meer
Jonathan’s Website: https://jonathanwolff.wordpress.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:35 Introduction
04:17 Jonathan’s Start in Political Philosophy
08:46 What is Political Philosophy?
18:24 Methodology in Political Science and Political Philosophy
22:42 Hobbes and the State of Nature
45:34 Rousseau on Government
51:12 John Stuart Mill on Liberty
1:01:25 Covid Policy and Moral Philosophy
1:08:49 Marx and the State
1:19:07 Rawls and Justice
1:33:07 Political Philosophy and the City
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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81 - Anubav Vasudevan: Mathematics, Physics, and History of Logic
26 april 2023 · 1 uur 57 min
Anubav Vasudevan is Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Chicago, where he works in formal epistemology and the history of logic, though he has published in a number of other areas. Anubav and Robinson talk about his time at Columbia University studying with the mathematician, probability theorist, and philosopher Haim Gaifman before discussing some of Anubav’s thoughts on mathematics, physics, logic, and how they relate to philosophy. In the second half of the conversation they move on to some of Anubav’s work in the history of logic, touching on Leibniz and the Peripatetic school. Lees meer
Background on Classical Logic: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/logic-classical/
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:50 Introduction
06:30 Mathematics and Philosophy with Haim Gaifman
23:44 From Physics to Philosophy
34:49 Philosophy and Scientific Inquiry
49:37 Why Formal Philosophy
57:05 What is Logic?
01:05:56 Monism and Pluralism in Logic
01:21:52 The Historical Roles of Logic in Philosophy
01:26:18 Peripatetic Logic
01:41:23 Leibniz and Logic
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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80 - Pamela Hieronymi: Free Will and Moral Responsibility
23 april 2023 · 1 uur 17 min
Pamela Hieronymi is Professor of Philosophy at UCLA. Before that, she did her undergraduate studies at Princeton and received her PhD from Harvard. Her work extends in a variety of directions, but some areas she works in include moral psychology, the philosophy of mind, ethics, and the philosophy of action. In this episode, she and Robinson discuss free will and moral responsibility, the topic of an upcoming book entitled Minds that Matter. Pamela begins by introducing moral psychology and the role of analytic philosophy in the debate over free will. Then she and Robinson discuss the extent to which we control our actions and thoughts, and how all of this relates to the question of moral responsibility. Pamela’s most recent book is Freedom, Resentment, and the Metaphysics of Morals (Princeton University Press, 2020). Lees meer
Pamela’s Website: https://hieronymi.humspace.ucla.edu
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:35 Introduction
04:40 - What is Moral Psychology?
06:30 - Agency and Analytic Philosophy
17:57 - Free Will, Moral Responsibility, and Determinism
21:57 - Control Over Thought and Environment
32:46 - Some Shortcomings of Other Accounts
35:50 - Kant and the Two-Standpoints View of Free Will
49:22 - Do We Control Our Beliefs?
54:33 - Free Will and Moral Responsibility
1:11:16 - How Should We Act?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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79 - Rachel Barney: Ancient Philosophy and the Sophists
22 april 2023 · 1 uur 34 min
Rachel Barney is Professor of Classics and Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. She received her PhD at Princeton and has taught at the University of Ottawa, Harvard, and the University of Chicago. She has worked widely across ancient philosophy, from the sophists to the Neoplatonists, though her primary focus is on Plato. In this episode, Robinson and Rachel discuss the sophists, beginning with just who they were and why they have been so maligned in contemporary discourse—even the word sophist today has pejorative connotations—and continuing through some of their most important thinkers, like Gorgias and Protagoras. Check out Rachel’s last book, Plato and the Divided Self (Cambridge University Press, 2012). Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode...
00:34 Introduction
04:28 Rachel’s Interest in Ancient Philosophy
09:49 Misunderstanding the Sophists
20:04 What Displaced the Sophists’ Philosophical Practices?
26:17 Philosophy and Protophilosophy
29:39 The Main Sophists
33:43 Gorgias and Non-Being
53:37 On Protagoras
1:07:40 Religion and the Sophists
1:12:55 More on Protagoras
1:17:50 Virtue in Homer and Hesiod
1:28:05 Ancient Philosophy and How to Live
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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78 - Paul Horwich: Truth, Realism, and Moral Facts
20 april 2023 · 1 uur 17 min
Paul Horwich is Professor Philosophy at NYU. He has worked in a number of areas of philosophy, but is especially well-known for his writing on the philosophy of language, particularly with regard to truth and meaning—naturally, he has books by the same names, Truth (Oxford, 1990) and Meaning (Oxford, 1998). Robinson and Paul discuss the relationship between his work on these topics and the philosophy he started off researching—science and physics—before moving on to the question of philosophical realism across a number of domains before focusing on moral realism and whether there are such things as moral facts. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode...
00:20 Introduction
03:26 From Physics to Truth
16:55 Truth and the World
35:24 Realism Across Domains
54:42 Moral Facts
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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77 - Stephen Yablo: Non-Existence Claims, Jokes, and Defining Philosophy
18 april 2023 · 1 uur 56 min
Stephen Yablo is David W. Skinner Professor of Philosophy at MIT. Before MIT, he taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Steve works in metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, and the philosophy of mind and language, though his work extends into other areas of philosophy as well. In this conversation, for instance, Robinson and Steve discuss the nature of philosophy and what distinguishes it from other fields, as well as the philosophy of jokes and humor. They also speak about the philosophy of language, and more particularly how to deal with negative existential statements (sentences of the form “such-and-such does not exist”). Check out Steve’s latest book, Aboutness (Princeton, 2019), which develops a theory of subject matter and its role in meaning. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode...
00:35 Introduction
05:55 The Demarcation Problem for Philosophy
34:32 Final Thoughts on What Is Philosophy?
37:47 Non-Existence Questions
1:19:21 Philosophy and Jokes
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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76 - Nora Boyd, Siska de Baerdemaeker, & Vera Matarese: The Philosophy of Astrophysics
15 april 2023 · 1 uur 56 min
Robinson’s Podcast #76 - Nora Boyd, Siska de Baerdemaeker, & Vera Matarese: The Philosophy of Astrophysics Lees meer
Nora Boyd is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Siena College. Siska de Baerdemaeker is a Researcher at Stockholm University. Vera Matarese is Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Science at the University of Perugia. Both Nora and Siska received their PhDs in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Pittsburgh, while Vera received hers in the Philosophy of Science at the University of Hong Kong. Along with Kevin Heng, Chair Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich (and guest on episode #56), they are the editors of Philosophy of Astrophysics—an anthology on the philosophy of the same and the first of its kind—which will be released open access in early June 2023 (link below). In this episode, Nora, Siska, Vera, and Robinson discuss the origins of the project, as well as many of the topics it covers, such as black holes, dark matter, and whether astrophysics should even be considered a science at all.
The Anthology: https://link.springer.com/book/9783031266171
Nora Boyd: https://facultyweb.siena.edu/~nboyd/
Siska de Baerdemaeker: https://www.siskadebaerdemaeker.com
Vera Matarese: https://sites.google.com/view/veramatarese/home
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:54 Introduction
7:10 What is Astrophysics?
14:24 What Is the Philosophy of Astrophysics?
25:26 Is Astrophysics Science?
38:29 Astrophysical Models and the Tribunal of Experience
45:33 Data and Theory
1:01:32 Astrophysical Simulations
1:14:17 Fictional Objects
1:20:00 Black Holes and Dark Matter
1:28:01 Processes and Pseudoprocesses
1:34:08 Time
1:47:20 Ethical Issues
1:42:06 Evidence, Theory, and Cold Dark Matter
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weight…
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75 - Jody Azzouni: Formal Languages, Proof, and the Foundations of Mathematics
13 april 2023 · 1 uur 55 min
Jody Azzouni is Professor of Philosophy at Tufts University. While Jody is best known for his nominalist stance in the philosophy of mathematics, he is also an author of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Robinson and Jody discuss one of Jody’s poems in detail before moving on to the philosophy of mathematics and logic. They go over the distinction between natural and formal languages, the roles and varieties of proof in mathematics, and whether mathematics can have foundations. This is Jody’s second appearance on Robinson’s podcast. On his first appearance, episode #45, he and Robinson spoke about the debate between nominalists and platonists in the philosophy of mathematics, Jody’s own deflationary stance, and some adjacent concerns about ontological commitment in both formal and informal languages. His latest book is Attributing Knowledge: What it Means to Know Something (Oxford, 2020). Lees meer
Jody’s Website: https://jodyazzouni.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:40 Introduction
4:48 “Colored Themes” by Jody Azzouni
36:59 The Difference Between Formal and Natural Languages
1:02:37 The Nature of Mathematical Proof
1:20:36 Can Mathematics Still Have Foundations?
1:26:36 Jody’s Course on Philosophy of Math
1:31:01 Mathematics as a Social Practice
1:37:23 Revolutions in Mathematics
1:40:35 “February” by Giles Goodland
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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74 - Stephen Darwall: Violence, Second-Personal Ethics, Philosophy of the Heart
10 april 2023 · 2 uur 13 min
Stephen Darwall is Andrew Downey Orrick Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and John Dewey Distinguished University Professor Emeritus at the University of Michigan. He is a world-renowned moral philosopher who has worked broadly across the ethical landscape, making important contributions to Kant scholarship, legal philosophy, deontology, and countless other areas. In this episode, Robinson and Steve talk about Steve’s strabismus (a visual impairment) and how it affects the way he sees the world, violence and human dignity, second-personal ethics, and Steve’s work on the relationship between philosophy and the heart. This is Steve’s second appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In his first, episode #49, Steve and Robinson discussed the history of modern ethics, beginning with Hugo Grotius and traveling up through Hobbes, Hume, Kant, Bentham, and Smith before ending with Marx, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche’s attack on morality. Check out Steve’s book on second-personal ethics, The Second-Person Standpoint: Morality, Respect, and Accountability (Harvard, 2009). Lees meer
Steve’s Website: https://campuspress.yale.edu/stephendarwall/
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:35 Introduction
3:57 Creative Pursuits and Strabismus
26:57 Violence and Human Dignity
56:42 Cognitive Science, Violence, and Dignity
1:05:55 What Is Second-Personal Ethics?
1:15:54 Moral Obligation, Recognition, and Second-Personal Ethics
1:27:57 Philosophy of the Heart
1:52:58 Chattel Slavery, Reparations, and the Heart
2:04:22 Steve and the Heart
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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73 - Craig Callender: Pseudoscience, Conspiracy Theories, and Philosophy
8 april 2023 · 1 uur 39 min
Craig Callender is Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego. Craig works across the philosophy of science, and has published research on the philosophy of physics, applied ethics, the metaphysics of time, and other related areas. In this episode, Craig and Robinson discuss the content of a course he’s been teaching called Science vs Pseudoscience. More particularly, they talk about the boundary between science and pseudoscience, as well as case studies of science, pseudoscience, and conspiracy theories, including super-string theory, psychoanalysis, astrology, and more. Craig’s most recent book, What Makes Time Special? (Oxford University Press, 2017), won the prestigious Lakatos Award in 2018. Lees meer
Craig’s Website: https://www.craigcallender.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:26 Introduction
7:15 A Course on Science and Pseudoscience
14:43 Karl Popper’s Demarcation Problem
22:56 Superstring Theory
29:26 Psychoanalysis
32:29 Astrology
36:04 Pseudohistory and Expert Selection
47:02 Flat Earth Theory
51:28 Why Clever People Believe Silly Things
1:01:25 Personality Tests
1:14:12 Quantum Mumbo Jumbo
1:25:59 Replicability
1:29:15 Nutritionism
1:35:11 A Perpetual Motion Machine
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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72 - Eric Trexler: Philosophy and Methodology in Sports Science
6 april 2023 · 1 uur 46 min
Eric Trexler received his PhD in Human Movement Science from the medical school at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. He is a professional body builder and a sports nutrition researcher, and the co-owner of Stronger By Science, MASS Research Review, and the MacroFactor nutrition app, as well as the co-host of the terrific Stronger By Science podcast. Robinson and Eric discuss some philosophical concerns in sports science, including methodological limitations in study design and human error in scientific reasoning. Among other topics, they address the ecological validity of mechanistic research, ways in which funding and practical constraints guide experimentation, and ethical considerations that factor into the study of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Lees meer
Eric’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trexlerfitness
Eric’s Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/erictrexler
Stronger By Science: https://www.strongerbyscience.com
MASS Research Review: https://www.strongerbyscience.com/mass/
The MacroFactor Nutrition App: https://www.macrofactorapp.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:50 Introduction
3:28 Human Movement Science
8:02 Performance Effects of Citrulline Malate and Beetroot Juice Supplementation
16:06 Interpreting Mechanistic Research
26:40 Reductive Reasoning and the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model of Obesity
55:59 Limitations of Study Design
01:16:56 Ethical Constraints on Researching Performance-Enhancing Drugs
01:25:40 MacroFactor
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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71 - Peter Adamson: Plotinus, Porphyry, and Neoplatonism
3 april 2023 · 1 uur 32 min
Peter Adamson is Professor of Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and Professor of Ancient and Medieval Philosophy at King's College London. He’s also the host of the podcast History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps and the author of the book series by the same name. Robinson and Peter talk about Neoplatonism—a philosophical movement in late antiquity—and its great thinkers, including Plotinus, Porphyry, Iamblichus, and Proclus, as well as the many issues they thought and wrote about, such as evil, theology, logic, and vegetarianism. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
02:14 Introduction
7:30 What’s Interesting About Neoplatonism?
5:35 The Etymology of “Neoplatonism”
11:36 Where was Neoplatonism?
19:48 The Great Plotinus
23:56 Plotinus’ Metaphysics
32:30 Plotinus and Theology
39:46 Plotinus on Evil
1:00:15 Porphyry, His Logic, and Arguments for Vegetarianism CLIP
1:18:31 Iamblichus
1:24:02 Proclus
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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70 - Elisabeth Camp: Emily Dickinson, Figurative Language, and Representation
1 april 2023 · 3 uur 10 min
Elisabeth Camp is Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers, where she works on the philosophy of language, mind, and aesthetics. As she puts it, her research “focuses on thoughts and utterances that don’t fit standard propositional models.” Liz and Robinson spend the first third of their conversation discussing the poetry of Emily Dickinson and its connections to philosophy. They then move on to the substantial corpus of Liz’s work, touching on frames—or representational devices—various difficult-to-analyze speech acts and devices like insinuation and metaphor, and the semantics of maps. Keep up with Liz and her research at http://www.elisabethcamp.org. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction
3:30 Liz’s Interest in Figurative Language
12:03 Emily Dickinson’s “The first Day’s Night had come”
29:03 Emily Dickinson’s “This World is not Conclusion”
42:36 Mary’s Room as a Literary Creation
49:46 Imaginative Resistance
58:44 Frames as Representational Devices
1:07:34 Liz’s Taste in Problems
1:11:23 Speech Acts
1:16:41 John Searle
1:23:54 Insinuation
1:47:42 Sarcasm
1:51:00 Metaphors
2:19:42 Slurs
2:32:42 Metaphors in Science
2:40:53 Maps and Sentences
2:57:53 Animal Minds and Mental Language
3:05:37 Cognitive Science at Rutgers
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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69 - Frank Jackson: Conceptual Analysis, Physicalism, and Mary’s Room
30 maart 2023 · 2 uur 3 min
Frank Jackson is Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University. He is best known for the knowledge argument and Mary’s Room—its accompanying thought experiment—but has published widely in the philosophy of mind, epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of language. Frank and Robinson discuss conceptual analysis—or the philosophical technique of examining the meaning, content, or definition of a concept to resolve questions about it—as well as physicalism, reference in the philosophy of language, the knowledge argument, and more. Much of the material discussed in this episode can be found in greater depth in Frank’s 1998 book, From Metaphysics to Ethics: A Defence of Conceptual Analysis. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction
5:42 Growing Up in a Household of Philosophers
11:06 What Is Conceptual Analysis?
16:01 Physicalism, the Location Problem, and Conceptual Analysis
21:00 Conceptual Analysis and the Sorites Paradox
25:48 A Priori Physicalism
38:13 Physicalism in Math and Elsewhere
43:31 Color and the Location Problem
54:10 Ethics and the Location Problem
1:06:49 Metaphilosophy
1:13:13 Naming, Language, and Mind
1:30:05 One-Spaceism and Two-Spaceism
1:39:12 Mary’s Room and the Knowledge Argument
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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68 - Simon Blackburn: Moral Realism, Antirealism, and Quasirealism
27 maart 2023 · 1 uur 9 min
Simon Blackburn was Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge and Edna J. Koury Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Though he has worked in many areas of philosophy, he is best known for his contributions to metaethics and the philosophy of language. Simon and Robinson discuss the distinction between ethics and metaethics before primarily focusing on the latter, where they explore the concept of realism. Simon’s latest books are Lust and Mirror, Mirror. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
4:31 Simon’s History with Metaethics
8:20 Distinguishing Ethics and Metaethics
12:57 On Moral Realism
39:42 Frege and the True
43:57 Moral Quasi-realism
54:52 Moral Quasi-realism and Living a Good Life
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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67 - David Albert & Tim Maudlin: The Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Theory
25 maart 2023 · 2 uur 9 min
David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, where he directs the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program. Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU. Both David and Tim are renowned as leading philosophers of physics, though their work extends beyond that to the philosophy of science and metaphysics. David is a prior guest (episodes 23 and 30) of Robinson’s Podcast, as is Tim (episode 46). David, Tim, and Robinson discuss the foundations of quantum theory, beginning with its historical motivation, tracking through some important concepts—superposition and the measurement problem—and then exploring some of its philosophical aspects (such as determinism, realism, the potential for backward causation, and more). Lees meer
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:17 Introduction
2:51 What Motivated the Development of Quantum Theory?
7:05 Superposition and the Measurement Problem
31:42 John Bell’s Theory of Local Beables
44:30 Formalism and Interpretation in Quantum Theory
51:52 The Einstein-Podoksky-Rosen Argument
58:26 On “Interpretations” of Quantum Theory
1:11:17 The Ghirardi-Rimini-Weber Theory of Spontaneous Collapse
1:16:19 The Many Worlds Theory
1:30:46 Determinism
1:46:29 Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Field Theory
1:48:28 Realism
1:52:15 Monism and Entanglement
1:58:19 Backward Causation
2:04:32 An Experiment to Further Foundations
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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66 - Noam Chomsky: History and Philosophy of Linguistics
23 maart 2023 · 1 uur 4 min
Noam Chomsky is Professor of Linguistics Emeritus at MIT and Laureate Professor of Linguistics at the University of Arizona. He not only counts as among the most influential linguists of all time, but he has played a major role in the development of twentieth and twenty-first century philosophy, cognitive science, and political theory. Noam and Robinson talk about some of the major topics in modern linguistics, ranging from generative and universal grammar to innateness hypotheses and the current limitations of large language models for studying human linguistic faculties. There are also philosophical dimensions to the conversation, as Noam touches on his time with Nelson Goodman, Hilary Putnam, and W. V. O. Quine, while other concerns—such as the indeterminacy of reference and the relationship between thought and language—recur throughout the discussion. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:27 Introduction
8:32 Noam’s Entry into Linguistics
11:03 Ferdinand de Saussure and Twentieth Century Linguistics
23:04 The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
26:00 Thoughts on Language and Behaviorism
35:24 Innateness Hypotheses in Linguistics
42:00 Innateness and Universal Grammar
46:02 Limitations of Large Language Models
48:42 Impossible Languages and What Linguists Study
1:00:10 Historical Shifts in Linguistics
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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65 - Tania Lombrozo: Explanation and Human Psychology
20 maart 2023 · 1 uur 25 min
Tania Lombrozo is Arthur W. Marks ’19 Professor of Psychology at Princeton University, where she directs the Concepts & Cognition Lab. Before that, she did her undergraduate work at Stanford University (!), her graduate work at Harvard University, and then taught at the University of California, Berkeley. Robinson and Tania discuss her work on explanation. Among other things, they touch on our intuitions about what makes explanations good, what makes certain observations seem to demand explanation, some of the differences between religious and scientific explanations, and how we reason about morally charged situations. Keep up with Tania’s work through: Lees meer
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaniaLombrozo
Tania’s Website: https://psych.princeton.edu/people/tania-lombrozo
The Concepts & Cognition Lab: https://cognition.princeton.edu
OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction
2:23 From Philosophy to Psychology
8:03:39 Tania’s Interest in Learning and Explanation
11:28 Experiments to Test Our Intuitions About Explanation
16:16 Our Intuitions About What Makes a Good Explanation
27:06 Explanation-Based Processes
29:30 What Demands Explanation?
38:33 Religious and Scientific Explanation?
40:51 What Makes a Good Answer?
43:59 Marr’s Levels of Explanation
48:36 Tania’s Work with Neuroscientists
54:05 More on Explanations in Science and Religion
1:00:58 Moral Reasoning and Explanation
1:07:28 Can Science Explain the Human Mind?
1:12:57 Philosophy and Psychology
1:16:39 Psychology in Tania’s Life
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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64 - Sarah Moss: Probabilistic Knowledge
18 maart 2023 · 2 uur 32 min
Sarah Moss is the William Wilhartz Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Law by courtesy at the University of Michigan. She works primarily in epistemology and the philosophy of language, though in the case of this conversation her work has an important bearing on legal philosophy. Robinson and Sarah talk about her book Probabilistic Knowledge, which argues that you can know something that you believe even if you do not believe it fully, and as she quite aptly points out, “The central theses of the book have significant consequences for social and political questions concerning racial profiling, statistical evidence, and legal standards of proof,” all of which are discussed in this episode. Robinson and Sarah begin by introducing the concept of probabilistic belief before turning to Sarah’s argument in favor of probabilistic knowledge. They then turn to some applications of her work to outstanding puzzles in philosophy and law. Keep up with Sarah on her website, http://www-personal.umich.edu/~ssmoss/, and check out Probabilistic Knowledge on Amazon, https://a.co/d/iobL8iZ. Lees meer
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction
3:58 Math and Epistemology
7:35 What is Probabilistic Belief?
11:22 Sarah, David Lewis, and Robert Stalnaker
28:26 Credence and Probabilistic Belief
33:40 Are All Beliefs Probabilistic?
56:57 Probabilistic Knowledge and Racial Profiling
1:20:25 Probabilistic Knowledge and Transformative Experience
1:29:30 Statistical Evidence and Legal Proof
1:48:39 Pragmatic Encroachment on Legal Proceedings
2:04:07 Is Belief a Strong or a Weak Attitude?
2:12:39 The Preface Paradox
2:21:06 Probabilistic Knowledge and the Newcomb Problem
2:27:18 Probabilistic Knowledge and the Philosophy of Action
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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63 - Thomas Ryckman & Mark Wilson: The State of Analytic Philosophy
16 maart 2023 · 1 uur 40 min
Thomas Ryckman is Professor of Philosophy at Stanford University, where he works on the philosophy of physics. Mark Wilson is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh, where he works at the intersection of the philosophy of math and physics on the one side and metaphysics and the philosophy of language on the other. Tom, Mark, and Robinson discuss the present state of analytic philosophy, the dominant tradition in the United States, including some potential obstacles and important ideas of the twentieth century that have been forgotten. Lees meer
OUTLINE:
00:00 Introduction
2:07 Tom and Mark’s Friendship
9:46 Problems with Contemporary Analytic Philosophy
15:18 Hertz and a Metaphysical Notion of Force
18:04 Thoughts on Wittgenstein
20:40 Mark and the French Structuralists
29:41 The Single Greatest Problem Confronting Analytic Philosophy Today
37:45 Some Thoughts on Grounding
1:02:40 Mach, Duhem, Hertz, and Analytic Philosophy
1:14:26 A Historical Overemphasis on Logic
1:29:54 Final Thoughts on the Current State of Academic Philosophy
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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62 - David Papineau: Realism, Antirealism, and The Philosophy of Science
13 maart 2023 · 1 uur 45 min
David Papineau is Professor of Philosophy of Science at King’s College London. He also teaches at the City University of New York Graduate Center, and before that he lectured in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge. Robinson and David speak broadly about the philosophy of science. Some topics they touch on include the distinction between realism and antirealism, the role of a philosopher of science in actual scientific practice, and the current replication crisis. They finish with an introduction to the statistical theory of causation. For some background information, listen to David’s episode of Philosophy Bites on scientific realism. The painting used in the “album art” comes by way of David’s daughter, Katy Papineau. See her website for more information. David’s most recent book is the Metaphysics of Sensory Experience (OUP 2021), a discussion of which will have to wait for another episode. You can keep up with David on his website, https://www.davidpapineau.co.uk, or via Twitter, @davidpapineau. Lees meer
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:38 Introduction
4:51 David and the Philosophy of Science
10:32 The Philosopher’s Role in Science
25:07 Scientific Realism and Anti-Realism
47:11 On Pessimistic Meta-Induction From Past Falsity
55:27 On The Replication Crisis in Science
1:15:21 The Statistical Theory of Causation
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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61 - Keith Frankish: Illusionism and The Philosophy of Mind
11 maart 2023 · 2 uur 10 min
Keith Frankish is an Honorary Professor in the Philosophy Department at the University of Sheffield, a Visiting Research Fellow with the Open University, an Adjunct Professor with the Brain and Mind Program at the University of Crete, and editor of the Cambridge University Press series Elements in Philosophy of Mind. He is best known for his “two-level” view of the human mind, covered in his book Mind and Supermind, and his defense of the philosophical thesis known as illusionism, which holds that phenomenal consciousness is an illusion. Robinson and Keith discuss a variety of aspects of illusionism, including just what it is—and isn’t—its relationship to free will, and how the thesis engages with academic literature outside of philosophy (please see http://nivea.psycho.univ-paris5.fr/#CB for Kevin O’Regan’s demonstrations of change blindness, which are referenced in the conversation). You can keep up with Keith and his work on his website, Keithfrankish.com, or through his Twitter account, @keithfrankish. He is also, along with Philip Goff, the host of the podcast MindChat, which you can find at https://www.youtube.com/@MindChat/. Lees meer
Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
OUTLINE:
00:00 In This Episode…
00:43 Introduction
5:42 What Is the Hard Problem of Consciousness?
16:40 Tactics for Accounting for Anomalous Phenomena
22:14 An Illusionism Primer
42:13 Eliminative Materialism and Illusionism
45:18 Reading the Scientific Literature
59:19 Observing Other Minds
1:14:37 Is Free Will an Illusion?
1:23:18 Cognitive Science and Illusionism
1:55:34 A Thought Experiment Concerning Anesthesia
2:02:46 A Poetry Reading
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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60 - Joel David Hamkins & Graham Priest: The Liar Paradox & The Set-Theoretic Multiverse
9 maart 2023 · 2 uur 24 min
Joel David Hamkins is the O’Hara Professor of Philosophy and Mathematics at the University of Notre Dame, where he recently moved from the University of Oxford. Joel is one of the world’s leading set theorists and philosophers of mathematics. Graham Priest is a Distinguished Professor in the philosophy department at the CUNY Graduate Center. He is one of the most influential philosophers of the past fifty years, and has done important work on a wide range of topics, ranging from the philosophy of mathematics (his doctorate is in mathematics from the London School of Economics) to logic and eastern philosophy. Robinson, Graham, and Joel discuss two topics—the liar paradox and the set-theoretic multiverse. More particularly, they address how solutions to the former revolve around questions of logical pluralism (is there more than one “correct” logic, and if so, how should we determine which to use in any given situation?), and regarding the latter, they address the metaphysics of the multiverse, how the multiverse theory squares with its monist alternative, and how it relates to the age-old question: Is mathematics created or discovered? Some resources for background information are included below. Check out Joel’s current project, The Book of Infinity, which is an accessible text on paradoxes and infinity. Joel has made the novel move of serializing it on Substack, so you can participate in its creation by checking out the link below, and otherwise see what he’s thinking about and working on through Twitter, MathOverflow, and his blog. You can keep up with Graham and his ever-growing, immense body of work through his website. Lees meer
Graham’s Website: https://grahampriest.net
Joel’s Blog: http://jdh.hamkins.org
Joel's MathOverflow: https://mathoverflow.net/users/1946/joel-david-hamkins
Joel's Substack: https://joeldavidhamkins.substack.com
Joel's Twitter: https://twitter.com/JDHamkins
Background:
The Liar Paradox on the SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/liar-pa…
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59 - Tamar Schapiro: Inclination, Will, and The Animal Self
6 maart 2023 · 1 uur 32 min
Tamar Schapiro is Professor of Philosophy at MIT. Her work centers on value theory, the history of ethics, and how this relates to human agency and reasoning. Robinson and Tamar’s discussion center around her latest book, Feeling Like It: A Theory of Inclination and Will, which explores the relationship between the two in a Kantian framework. They also talk about her experience teaching ethics at STEM-focused schools (Tamar taught at Stanford for fifteen years before moving to the east coast), Kant’s thoughts on free will, topics in the history of ethics, and why she teaches Ayn Rand’s philosophy to undergraduates. You can keep up with Tamar and her work through her PhilPeople page, at https://philpeople.org/profiles/tamar-schapiro. Lees meer
Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
4:44 Tamar’s Interest in Ethics
9:35 Teaching Ethics at MIT
11:40 On Inclination and Will
18:10 Distinguishing Inclination and Will
21:23 The Moment of Drama
26:27 Rationalism and Intellectualism
29:56 Tamar’s Theory
36:58 Kant and the Animal Self
38:33 Freud and Analytic Philosophy
40:36 A Normative Component to Tamar’s Theory
53:54 Kant’s Kingdom of Ends
56:53 Kant on Free Will
1:00:50 Rationalism and Sentimentalism
1:07:16 Hobbes on Moral Obligation
1:12:02 On Richard Price
1:15:04 Jeremy Benthem on Utilitarianism
1:20:44 Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism
1:23:44 The Philosophy of Ayn Rand
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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58 - Huw Price: Philosophy of Time, Boltzmann Brains, and Retrocausality
4 maart 2023 · 1 uur 2 min
Huw Price is the former Bertrand Russell Professor in the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge, and was before that Challis Professor of Philosophy and Director of the Centre for Time at the University of Sydney, and then—even before that—was Professor of Logic and Metaphysics at the University of Edinburgh. Huw is an expert across a wide variety of subdomains within the family of philosophy of science and physics, and in this episode he and Robinson discuss topics drawn from the philosophy of time, ranging from its flow and direction to its relationship to causation and quantum mechanics. Huw is also the author of Naturalism Without Mirrors and Time’s Arrow and Archimedes’ Point: New Directions for the Physics of Time. You can keep up with Huw on his website, prce.hu, and via his Twitter account, @HuwPriceAU. Lees meer
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
2:22 Huw's Background
4:23 The A- and B-Series of Time
12:57 The Flow of Time
25:49 Boltzmann Brains
33:30 The Arrow of Time
38:23 The Fixed Past and The Open Future
50:31 Quantum Mechanics and Retrocausality
Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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57 - Richard Kimberly Heck: Reference, Names, and the Philosophy of Language
2 maart 2023 · 2 uur 45 min
Richard Kimberly Heck has been a professor of philosophy at Brown University since 2005, at which time they left their post at Harvard, where they had taught for over a decade. On the way to receiving their PhD in philosophy and linguistics at MIT, they studied at Duke and Oxford. Riki has also been a guest on three prior episodes of Robinson’s Podcast—5, 17, and 41—that covered the philosophy of sex, pornography, and gender. In this episode, however, Robinson and Riki turn to the philosophy of language, and more particularly the reference relation. They pick up with Frege and travel up through Russell, Carnap, Strawson, Kripke, and Lewis, up to the present, covering a range of topics including Fregean senses, the descriptive theory of names, ordinary language philosophy, natural kinds, possible worlds, externalism, and more. Lees meer
Check out http://robinsonerhardt.com and stay up to date!
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:37 The Importance of Names
9:59 Recent Shifts in Philosophy of Language
12:44 Riki’s Interest in Frege
17:35 Who Was Frege?
30:05 Uber Sinn und Bedeutung
48:33 Knowledge by Description and Acquaintance
55:06: The True and The False
1:00:41 Bertrand Russell On Denoting
1:17:50 Distinguishing Representations
1:20:54 P.F. Strawson and Ordinary Language Philosophy
1:31:43 Carnap on Meaning and Necessity
1:34:52 Kripke and Lewis on Naming and Possible Worlds
1:55:19 Current Work on Naming
2:02:15 Experimental Philosophy of Language
2:12:20 On Twin Earth
2:19:31 A Digression on Philosophical Practice
2:25:14 Ty Burge and Natural Kinds
2:27:55 Referential Vagueness
2:33:08 Internalism and Externalism
2:38:40 Sense, Reference, and Sex
2:41:16 Sense, Reference, and The Begriffsschrift
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.
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56 - Kevin Heng: Exoplanetary Atmospheres and The Philosophy of Astrophysics
27 februari 2023 · 1 uur 18 min
Kevin Heng is Chair Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics of Extrasolar Planets at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. Before that, he was the director of the Center for Space and Habitability at the University of Bern in Switzerland. Robinson and Kevin discuss the search for planets outside our solar system and the importance of—as well as some problems surrounding—our investigations into their atmospheres, all before turning to his recent philosophical work. Kevin, along with three philosophers of science—Vera Matarese, Siska de Baerdemaeker, and Nora Boyd—are the editors of an upcoming anthology on the philosophy of astrophysics, for which Kevin composed an essay on the role of models in astrophysics. Kevin is also the author of Exoplanetary Atmospheres: Theoretical Concepts and Foundations, which is part of the Princeton Series in Atmospheres. Lees meer
Check out http://robinsonerhardt.com and stay up to date!
OUTLINE
00:00 In This Episode…
00:29 Introduction
3:37 Kevin’s Background in Astrophysics
6:53 How Do Astrophysicists Work?
12:34 An Astrophysicist’s Tools in the Search for Exoplanets
22:06 False Color Images in Astrophysics
27:12 More Methods of Atmospheric Analysis
30:42 Kevin’s Research
43:13 The Philosophy of Astrophysics Anthology
47:03 Philosophy and Scientific Models
1:04:19 An Unsolved Problem Concerning Turbulence
1:08:01 Kevin’s Time in Culinary School
1:11:57 Fashion and Bottega Veneta
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and everyone in-between.