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.