1 - Haim Gaifman: Vagueness & the Sorites Paradox

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. 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-paradox/ Set Theory on the SEP: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/set-theory/ Robinson's Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com OUTLINE: 00:00 In This Episode… 1:12 Introduction 11:16 Graham’s History with the Liar Paradox 12:51 An Explication of the Liar 15:03 Paraconsistent Logic and the Liar 32:32 A Deflationary Account of Truth and the Liar 34:51 Joel’s Approach to the Liar 38:37 Hartry Field and the Liar 41:18 The Yablo Paradox 48:22 When to Change the Logic 56:24 A Difference in Opinion on Logic? 1:01:44 The Set-Theoretic Multiverse 1:14:43 Monism and Pluralism About the Set-Theoretic Universe 1:35:35 Philosophical Answers to Mathematical Questions 1:39:16 On Woodin’s Program 1:46:12 Logical Pluralism and the Set-Theoretic Multiverse 1:58:13 The Metaphysics of the Set-Theoretic Multiverse 2:09:42 Is Mathematics Created or Discovered? 2:16:59 The Continuity From Ancient To Contemporary Mathematics 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.

9 Mars 20232h 23min

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. 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.

6 Mars 20231h 31min

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. 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.

4 Mars 20231h 2min

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.

2 Mars 20232h 44min

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.

27 Feb 20231h 18min

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.

25 Feb 20231h

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.

24 Feb 20231h 30min

Christina Van Dyke is an emerita professor of philosophy at Calvin College and a visiting professor of philosophy at Barnard College, where she specializes in the medieval period. She is the author of A Hidden Wisdom: Medieval Contemplatives on Self-Knowledge, Reason, Love, Persons, and Immortality. Christina and Robinson discuss the philosophy of food and eating—its gendered aspects, its religious history, some ethical concerns, and eating disorders—before turning to animals in medieval philosophy, where they touch on Hildegard von Bingen, medieval bestiaries, and the secret society known as the Brethren of Purity. You can keep up with Christina at cvdphilosopher.net. linktree: https://linktr.ee/robinsonerhardt OUTLINE 00:00 In This Episode 00:30 Introduction 3:05 Christina and Medieval Philosophy 5:41 Christina’s Interest in The Philosophy of Eating 6:59 Are Food and Eating Gendered? 23:39 Food, Gender, and Religion 32:40 How Philosophy Might Help Us Eat Better 36:27 Animals and the Brethren of Purity 45:11 Hildegard von Bingen and Medieval Animals 58:05 Hydras, Bestiaries, and Arthurian Lore 1:03:35 Animals, and What Humans Are 1:07:45 Animals, Angels, and Humans 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.

21 Feb 20231h 18min