Robinson's Podcast

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. 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.

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. 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.

Keith Frankish, a renowned philosopher, discusses illusionism in consciousness, free will, and its connection to academic literature. Topics include the hard problem of consciousness, affordances, perception, color perception, pain, and the importance of poetry in emotionally connecting. The podcast offers a deep dive into Frankish's views and challenges conventional philosophical explanations.

Joel David Hamkins and Graham Priest discuss the liar paradox and set-theoretic multiverse. They explore logical pluralism, paraconsistent logic, mathematical pluralism, and metaphysical implications. Delve into truth assertions, T-schema, and different logics for mathematical reasoning. Debate the nature of existence of physical objects vs. abstract entities and the evolution of mathematics over time.

Tamar Schapiro, a Professor of Philosophy at MIT, dives deep into value theory and ethics. She discusses her book on inclination and will, exploring how our primal instincts clash with rational thought. The conversation highlights Kant's views on free will and the animal self, along with the meaningful impact of teaching ethics in STEM fields. Schapiro also reflects on her teaching experience, including the provocative ideas from Ayn Rand, encouraging lively debates among students. If you're curious about the interplay of ethics and human agency, this episode is a must-listen!

Huw Price, former Bertrand Russell Professor and esteemed philosopher, dives deep into the philosophy of time. He explores the A- and B-Series of time, intertwining past, present, and future. The discussion on Boltzmann Brains raises fascinating questions about reality and consciousness. Price also examines the flow of time and its connection to thermodynamics, while challenging traditional causation through the lens of retrocausality in quantum mechanics. His insights bridge philosophy and science, inviting us to rethink our understanding of existence.

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. 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.

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. 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.

Alison Fernandes is a professor of philosophy at Trinity College Dublin. Prior to that, she did her graduate work at Columbia University, where she studied with two other denizens of the Robinson’s Podcast universe, David Albert and Achille Varzi. Alison is the author of the upcoming book with Cambridge University Press, The Temporal Asymmetry of Causation, some of the contents of which are the subject of this episode. After rehashing the dominant theories of causation, Alison and Robinson discussion backward causation and time travel, the temporal asymmetry of causation, and Alison’s agency theory of causation. You can keep up with her at alisonfernandes.net. linktree: https://linktr.ee/robinsonerhardt OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode 00:46 Introduction 4:05 Alison’s Interest in Causation 5:36 Hume’s Theory of Causation 8:11 Dominant Accounts of Causation 14:33 Backward Causation and Time Travel 28:42 Causal and Temporal Asymmetry 42:22 Alison’s Account of Causation 53:24 A Return to Time Travel 56:55 Achille Varzi on Time Travel 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.

Luvell Anderson is a professor of philosophy at Syracuse University, where he’s also an affiliate faculty member of Women’s and Gender Studies and African American Studies. He is the co-editor of The Routledge Companion to the Philosophy of Race and the soon-to-be-released Oxford Handbook of Applied Philosophy of Language. He is also currently working on a book about the philosophy of humor—The Ethics of Racial Humor—which is the topic of this episode. After beginning with a discussion of just what humor is, Luvell and Robinson move on to the distinction between racial and racist humor, Dave Chappelle, the ethics of roasting, what makes comedy human, and more. You can keep up with Luvell at andersonluvell.weebly.com and through his Twitter account, @luvell_anderson. linktree: https://linktr.ee/robinsonerhardt OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode 00:28 Introduction 3:05 Luvell’s Interest in Comedy 5:32 What is Humor? 12:22 Slurs and Hate Speech 17:45 Is Humor Uniquely Human? 23:32 Racial Humor and Racist Humor 32:48 Sexist Humor 38:51 Dave Chappelle 44:05 Roasting Ethics 53:05 A Genetic Approach to Comedy 59:12 Horror and Humor 1:05:15 Comedy, Connection, and Progressive Change 1:09:40 What Makes Comedy Human 1:14:03 Audience Sensitivity 1:17:56 Humor and Media Psychology 1:21:54 Laughing With and Laughing At 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.