Robinson's Podcast - Robinson Erhardt

Latest Episodes:

81 - Anubav Vasudevan: Mathematics, Physics, and History of Logic Apr 25, 2023

Show notes

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.

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.

80 - Pamela Hieronymi: Free Will and Moral Responsibility Apr 23, 2023

Show notes

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).

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

79 - Rachel Barney: Ancient Philosophy and the Sophists Apr 22, 2023

Show notes

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).

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

78 - Paul Horwich: Truth, Realism, and Moral Facts Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

77 - Stephen Yablo: Non-Existence Claims, Jokes, and Defining Philosophy Apr 18, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

76 - Nora Boyd, Siska de Baerdemaeker, & Vera Matarese: The Philosophy of Astrophysics Apr 15, 2023

Show notes

Robinson’s Podcast #76 - Nora Boyd, Siska de Baerdemaeker, & Vera Matarese: The Philosophy of Astrophysics

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

75 - Jody Azzouni: Formal Languages, Proof, and the Foundations of Mathematics Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

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).

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

74 - Stephen Darwall: Violence, Second-Personal Ethics, Philosophy of the Heart Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

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).

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

73 - Craig Callender: Pseudoscience, Conspiracy Theories, and Philosophy Apr 08, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

72 - Eric Trexler: Philosophy and Methodology in Sports Science Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

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.

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