Robinson's Podcast - Robinson Erhardt

Latest Episodes:

71 - Peter Adamson: Plotinus, Porphyry, and Neoplatonism Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

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.

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.

70 - Elisabeth Camp: Emily Dickinson, Figurative Language, and Representation Apr 01, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

69 - Frank Jackson: Conceptual Analysis, Physicalism, and Mary’s Room Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

68 - Simon Blackburn: Moral Realism, Antirealism, and Quasirealism Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

67 - David Albert & Tim Maudlin: The Philosophical Foundations of Quantum Theory Mar 25, 2023

Show notes

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).

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

66 - Noam Chomsky: History and Philosophy of Linguistics Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

65 - Tania Lombrozo: Explanation and Human Psychology Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

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:

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

64 - Sarah Moss: Probabilistic Knowledge Mar 18, 2023

Show notes

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.

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

63 - Thomas Ryckman & Mark Wilson: The State of Analytic Philosophy Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

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

62 - David Papineau: Realism, Antirealism, and The Philosophy of Science Mar 13, 2023

Show notes

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