Robinson's Podcast

Bas van Fraassen is the McCosh Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton University and a Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University. In addition to being one of the most recognized philosophers of science working today—he received the Philosophy of Science Association’s inaugural Hempel Award—he has also worked in epistemology and logic. In this episode, Bas and Robinson discuss a major shift in the philosophy of science in the second half of the twentieth century from the view of the logical positivists, who had a formal, mathematical approach, to philosophers who adopted the semantic approach, which more closely aligned with how working scientists viewed and experienced the field. Some other issues touched on include scientific realism, Thomas Kuhn and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and interpretations of quantum mechanics.

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:51 Introduction

03:47 An Interest in the Philosophy of Science

06:44 Logical Positivism

19:56 What is Scientific Realism?

30:56 Kuhn and The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

39:13 The Semantic Approach 

54:49 The Quantum Mechanics Interpretation Wars

01:08:12 Mathematical Models

01:12:31 Epistemology

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. 

Jay McClelland is Lucie Stern Professor in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University, where he is also Director of the Center for Mind, Brain, Computation and Technology. Along with other towering figures like Geoffrey Hinton, Jay is considered one of the fathers of artificial intelligence. In this episode, Robinson and Jay discuss some of his main interests in and contributions to the field, including his work on parallel distributed processing with David Rumelhart, the relationship between neural networks and the brain, and just what developments are necessary for artificial intelligence to replicate the thinking of the greatest human scientists and engineers.

Parallel Distributed Processing: https://a.co/d/aELzYx2

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:30 Introduction

02:55 Jay’s Beginnings in Psychology

07:46 What Is Parallel Distributed Processing?

24:21 Cognitive Phenomena and Neural Networks

37:27 Fodor and Pylyshyn on Neural Networks

52:10 Affective Reasoning

55:52 Advancing AI to Compete with Scientists

01:10:02 What Distinguishes AI From Our Greatest Thinkers?

01:14:15 AI and Mathematical Cognition

01:18:47 Macrostructure and Microstructure

01:43:32 Final Thoughts

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.

Paul Boghossian is Silver Professor of Philosophy at New York University, where he is also Chair of the Philosophy Department. Paul has worked in a wide variety of areas within philosophy, including epistemology and the philosophy of language, mind, and logic respectively. Robinson and Paul discuss the sociological relationship between physics and philosophy, the Sokal Hoax, philosophy in public life, the role of the a priori and a posteriori distinction in metaphysics, logic, and epistemology, and the nature of moral facts. For more detail on the latter, check out Paul’s book with Timothy Williamson, Debating The A Priori (Oxford, 2020).

Debating The A Priori: https://a.co/d/diNADPx

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:32 Introduction

04:33 Physics and Philosophy

17:12 The Sokal Hoax

26:52 Distinguishing the A Priori and A Posteriori

31:59 Does The A Priori/A Posteriori Distinction Hold Water?

48:07 Clarifying the Distinction

53:51 Debating the A Priori with Timothy Williamson

01:03:11 Are There Moral Facts?

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 Pizarro is Professor of Psychology at Cornell University. While he teaches and publicly discusses a wide variety of material in the discipline, his primary research interest is in moral judgment. In this episode, Robinson and David discuss some of the conceptual underpinnings of moral psychology before turning to the research on praise, blame, social cognition, and the relationship between disgust and political affiliation. David is also the co-host of two podcasts, Very Bad Wizards with Tamler Sommers and Psych with Paul Bloom.

David’s Website: http://peezer.net

David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/peez

Very Bad Wizards: https://verybadwizards.fireside.fm

Psych: https://psych.fireside.fm

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:39 Introduction

02:52 David’s Interest in Moral Psychology

06:42 Morality, Judgment, and Intuition in Psychology

30:40 Did Psychology Advance Too Fast

33:44 The Psychology of Praise and Blame

56:26 Why Do We Blame Objects and Robots?

01:10:09 Ostracism, Loneliness, and the Human Condition

01:14:27 The Psychology of Disgust

01:32:26 Disgust and Moral Judgement

01:40:10 Disgust Sensitivity and Political Affiliation

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. 

Julian Barbour is a physicist working in the foundations of physics and quantum gravity, with a special interest in time and the history of science. In this episode, Julian and Robinson discuss thermodynamics and the arrows of time, including a new theory of time developed by Julian and his collaborators, which is laid out in his book, The Janus Point: A New Theory of Time. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute (Julian is an Honorary Fellow at the JBI), which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful.

Julian’s Website: http://platonia.com/index.html

The Janus Point: https://a.co/d/4NVOGqq

A History of Thermodynamics: http://platonia.com/A_History_of_Thermodynamics.pdf

Quantum without Quantum:  https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.13335

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:56 Introduction

04:42 Julian’s Interest in Time

07:27 Time’s Arrows

23:34 The Problem of Time-Reversal Symmetry

25:54 A Potted Overview of Entropy and Thermodynamics

38:21 Entropy and Time’s Arrow

52:32 The Janus Point and a New Theory of Time

01:07:00 Intuition and The Janus Point

01:21:21 Entropy and Entaxy

01:26:00 Cosmic Inflation and Its Problems

01:44:05 Quantum Mechanics without the Wave Function

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. 

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. This is Simon’s second appearance on the show. In episode 68, Simon and Robinson discussed metaethics and moral realism.  In this episode, they talk about his latest books, Lust and Mirror, Mirror, with special attention to toxic vanity, the tale of Narcissus, and pride.

Lust: https://a.co/d/9dcOem9

Mirror, Mirror: https://a.co/d/9uy81GY

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:38 Introduction

03:08 Love and Simon’s Philosophy

10:04 L’Oreal and Toxic Vanity

31:09 The Tale of Narcissus

42:41 Lust and Self-Love

46:45 Psychology and Narcissism

52:43 Pride

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. 

Mark Solms is professor of Neuropsychology at the Neuroscience Institute at the University of Cape Town. He is also a psychoanalyst, and while Mark’s early research focused on the brain mechanisms of sleep and dreaming, he is currently working on the neural correlates of consciousness and affect. In this episode, Robinson and Mark talk about his new book The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness. More particularly, they discuss the hard problem of consciousness and how recent advances in neuroscience have pointed toward a solution.

The Hidden Spring: https://a.co/d/jcvbmLw

Mark’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mark_Solms

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:47 Introduction

03:09 What is Neuropsychoanalysis?

11:54 Was Freud a Neuroscientist?

26:17 What is the Hard Problem of Consciousness?

36:24 What is the Relationship between Dreaming and Consciousness?

54:44 Patients without a Cortex

01:03:01 Does Consciousness Have a Purpose?

01:14:53 Daniel Dennett and Karl Friston

01:24:49 Solving the Hard Problem of Consciousness

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. 

Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. He was also the guest for Robinson’s Podcast #109 on psychoanalysis, wokeness, racism, and a hundred other topics. Sean Carroll is Homewood Professor of Natural Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University and fractal faculty at the Santa Fe Institute. He is also host of Sean Carroll’s Mindscape, a terrific show (that influenced the birth of Robinson’s Podcast) about science, society, philosophy, culture, arts, and ideas. Sean was one of the guests—along with David Albert of Columbia—on Robinson’s Podcast #106, which covers the Many-Worlds theory of quantum mechanics, entropy and Boltzmann Brains, and the fine-tuned universe. In this episode, Robinson, Sean, and Slavoj (though mostly Sean and Slavoj) talk about quantum mechanics, the indeterminacy of small-scale reality, cosmology and the big bang, major figures like Niels Bohr, Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, and the world of sci-fi, including movies like Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indian Jones, and the Avengers. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics—which you absolutely should be—then please check out the John Bell Institute (Sean is an Honorary Fellow at the JBI), which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. At this early stage any donations are immensely helpful.

Robinson's Podcast #109 | Slavoj Žižek: Wokeness, Psychoanalysis, and Quantum Mechanics: https://youtu.be/IxmZ4AVac7U

Robinson’s Podcast #106 | David Albert & Sean Carroll: Quantum Theory, Boltzmann Brains, & The Fine-Tuned Universe: https://youtu.be/U6ZtmGIhIhU

Sean’s Website: https://www.preposterousuniverse.com

Sean’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/seanmcarroll

The Biggest Ideas in the Universe: https://a.co/d/dPKZ40X

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:38 Introduction

04:40 Quantum Incompleteness

15:56 A Problem with Many-Worlds?

27:08 Niels Bohr and the Copenhagen Interpretation

40:30 Ontological Indeterminacy and Quantum Physics

47:23 On Superposition, History, and Art

01:02:10 What’s The Status of the Big Bang?

01:09:57 Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, and Indeterminacy

01:21:13 Will Quantum Mechanics Be in a Theory of Everything?

01:27:55 Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones, and The Avengers

01:33:03 Time Travel and Killing Hitler

01:41:54 On Stephen Hawking

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. 

Dr. Anna Lembke received her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and and her medical degree from Stanford University. She is currently Professor and Medical Director of Addiction Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She is also Program Director of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Fellowship, and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. In this episode, Robinson and Anna discuss her latest, New York Times bestselling book Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence (Dutton/Penguin Random House, August 2021). More particularly, they talk about just what happens in the brain when someone develops an addiction, what current social and cultural conditions have led to increased rates of addiction, and how all of these factors—and addiction itself—ought to be combatted. Anna is also the author of Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop (Johns Hopkins, 2016), which sounded the alarm on—and covers—various dimensions of the opioid crisis.

Dopamine Nation: https://a.co/d/0AJw6Je

Drug Dealer, MD: https://a.co/d/2soL324

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

00:56 Introduction

04:10 Addiction and Narrative

11:18 The Role of Dopamine in Addiction

20:29 Risk Factors for Addiction

27:31 Anna’s Addiction to Romance Novels

40:39 Pain, Pleasure, and Addiction

59:11 How to Tackle Addictions?

01:15:09 Is The Hype For Medical Psychedelics Overblown?

01:21:51 Honesty, Shame, and Recovery from Addiction

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.

Massimo Pigliucci is K.D. Irani Professor of Philosophy at the City University of New York, where he specializes in both ancient philosophy and the philosophy of science. In addition to a doctorate in philosophy, Massimo has a PhD in evolutionary biology. In this episode, Robinson and Massimo discuss the vast landscape between science on the one hand and pseudoscience on the other, covering how they should be distinguished, examples galore, and the role of the public intellectual in science education. Check out Massimo’s excellent book, which ranges across these topics and more, Nonsense on Stilts: How to Tell Science from Bunk.

Nonsense on Stilts: https://a.co/d/agrSGF4

Massimo’s Website: https://massimopigliucci.org

Massimo’s Substack: https://figsinwinter.substack.com/

OUTLINE

00:00 In This Episode…

01:22 Introduction

04:17 Massimo’s Interest in Pseudoscience

10:29 What Is Pseudoscience?

24:36 Pseudoscience and The Search For Aliens

39:43 Conspiracy Theories and Expert Selection

46:00 Should Scientists Debate Pseudoscientists and Conspiracy Theorists?

49:20 Aristotle and the Elements of Scientific Communication

59:41 The Decline of the Public Intellectual and the Rise of the Think Tank

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.