Episodes

  • 37: "Why Being Necessary Really Is Not the Same As Being Not Possibly Not", Dana Goswick
    Jun 4 2024

    Modality (possibility, necessity and related phenomena) is central to philosophy both as a topic of inquiry and as a methodological tool. There are many controversies about the nature of possibility and necessity and about what counts as possible or necessary. But it is generally agreed that possibility and necessity are intimitely related, they are interdefinable: being possible is the same as being not necessarily not. Goswick, however, denies this! Listen to find out why.

    Click here for the paper.

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    9 mins
  • 36: "The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis", David Chalmers
    Jul 19 2023

    Recently, there has been frenzied interest in artificial intelligence and, in particular, in the issue of AI safety; there have been “open letters” signed by some of the biggest names in the tech business urging us to take seriously the existential threat posed by AI, and the UK government has just announced that it will convene the first global AI safety summit this autumn.

    But what is the threat here, exactly? There are risks associated with any new technology: fire burns, nuclear energy can be harnessed in bombs and social media algorithms threaten democracy. The so-called AI singularity is supposed to be at least on par with the absolute worst of these threats since, according to some, it has the real potential to wipe out all of humanity.

    Will there be a singularity? How should we negotiate a singularity and will it necessarily be a bad thing resulting in human extinction? Assuming the singularity doesn’t wipe out humanity, how can we integrate into a post-singularity world? Listen to find out!

    Here is a link to the paper.

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    24 mins
  • 35: "There is no measurement problem for Humeans", Chris Dorst
    Jul 8 2023

    The measurement problem highlights a deeply puzzling feature of quantum mechanics: nature seems to obey one law when not measured and a completely different law when measured. But how does nature "recognise" measurement contexts?! What explains these shifts in how nature operates?

    For the Humean about laws, i.e., one who maintains that nature unthinkingly acts and the laws describe, these issues lose their bite. So perhaps there just is no measurement problem for Humeans! But if true, does this count for or against Humeanism? Listen and decide!

    Here's a link to the paper

    See also this paper by Hicks and Schaffer for detail on derivative properties featuring in fundamental laws, an idea that features centrally in Dorst's discussion.

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    16 mins
  • 34: "The Limits of Modality", Sam Cowling
    Jan 19 2023

    This episode is about Sam Cowling's "The Limits of Modality" published in the Philosophical Quarterly in 2011.

    Are all true propositions either contingent or necessary? Cowling argues that if we want to understand the metaphysics of modality in terms of possible worlds we should maintain that certain true propositions are neither contingent nor necessary but just true simpliciter. Is this conceptually coherent? Have a listen and make up your mind!

    Here's a link to the paper.

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    14 mins
  • 33: "Biochemical Functions", Francesca Bellazzi (deep dive featuring the author!)
    Dec 22 2022

    In the episode, I talk with Francesca Bellazzi about her paper "Biochemical Functions", which is forthcoming in the British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. We discuss the distinction between functions and mere accidents, the peculiar puzzle posed by biochemical functions, evolutionary explanations, the relationship between science and philosophy and much more!

    Click here for the paper
    Click here for more about Francesca
    Click here for more about the MetaScience project

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    37 mins
  • 32: "Substance", Donnchadh O'Conaill (deep dive featuring the author!)
    Aug 23 2022

    In this episode, I ask Donnchadh O'Conaill about themes from his book "Substance" which is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press as part of the Cambridge Elements in Metaphysics series. We cover the roles in metaphysical theorising that substance plays, candidate examples of substance, the methodology of metaphysics and its relationship to science among other things.

    Click here for more about Donnchadh
    Click here for the Elements in Metaphysics

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    1 hr and 14 mins
  • 31: "Biological Individuality and the Foetus Problem", Will Morgan (deep dive featuring the author!)
    Jul 26 2022

    In this episode, I talk to my Bristol MetaScience colleague, Dr Will Morgan, about his recently published paper in which he argues that if we accept the physiological approach to biological individuality, it seems that a foetus never becomes the organism that is present after birth. This then raises the difficult question: what happens to the foetus? We also touch on the relevance of metaphysics to biology and to ethics.

    You can read the paper here
    Click here for more about Will

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    46 mins
  • 30: “How Skeptical is Quine’s “Modal Skepticism”?”, John Divers
    Jul 5 2022

    Was Quine really a modal sceptic--someone who thought that modality was unintelligible or paradoxical? Divers thinks he is better cast as a non-sceptical modal anti-realist.

    Here's a link to the paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/122483/1/how%20Skeptical%3F.pdf

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    15 mins