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In the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 16: The Freedom of the WillThe question of whether humans enjoy free will (or not) has occupied people for centuries. Science has not yet found a definitive answer but we are all familiar with the phenomenon. When we want something (a mental event), we get up to get it (a physical event). When something happens to us (a physical event), we react with, say, sadness or joy (a mental event). How is this possible? How can physical events influence mental states? And how can mental states lead to physical events? In this Episode I introduce to rival accounts: determinism (which claims that we are...2024-07-1032 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 15: What are the Laws of Nature?In previous Episodes, I have made many references to the laws of nature. Laws of nature are the regularities in the natural world, which exist independently of our knowledge of them. But in the textbooks of science you find many equations which encode the natural regularities. These equations are the laws of science. The laws of science are only approximately true because the employment of mathematics involves the use of abstractions and idealizations.The laws of science are subject to modifications, but the laws of nature just are. I limit myself to two philosophical attempts to explain what the...2024-07-1016 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 14: How Things Are DiscoveredIn this Episode, I discuss some systematic ways in which discoveries are made in science. This follows on from Episode 13 (A, B) which introduced thought and real experiments. In this Episode I look at methods - systematic ways - to go about scientific discoveries. There are three methods: two different forms of induction and deduction. Induction works either by inferring from some to all cases (from 'some ravens are black' to 'all ravens are black') or by the method of elimination. To illustrate the latter method I compare the work of a scientist who tries to solve problems, to...2024-07-1022 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 13 (B): Thought Experiments, Real Experiments and Eureka MomentsPart B of this Episode concentrates on imaginary and real experiments in the modern era. I introduce Foucaults' famous pendulum experiment (1859), which gave a visual demonstration that the Earth turns on its own axis. I propose that thought experiments answer 'what-if' questions about the natural world. They are models of possible worlds. The episode finishes with a discussion of the famous double-slit experiment on the atomic level. It started out as a mere thought experiment before becoming an iconic a real experiment. It demonstrates the weird behaviour of quantum particles, i.e. the wave-particle duality.2024-07-1015 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 13 (A): Thought Experiments, Real Experiments and Eureka MomentsEpisode 13 (A, B) is devoted to the topic of experiments in science: thought experiments and real experiments. They are as important as grand scientific theories. Part A focuses on thought and real experiments from antiquity to the 17th century. I explain the function of such experiments and discuss some famous examples. How do you 'prove' that the universe if infinite (Archytas of Tarentum, ca 430-345 BC), that the Earth rotates (Aristotle and Galileo) and how do you measure its circumference (Erastothenes, 240 BC), when you cannot make direct measurements? Listen to Part A to find out!2024-07-1020 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 12: Time Travel and Time MachinesThis episode is devoted to the topic of time travel; time travel in a conventional sense, which relies on time machines to travel either into the future or the past. (I do not discuss forms of time travel, which may be permissible by the laws of physics.) It is advisable to separate these two different scenarios. Time travel into the future - as in H. G. Wells's novel The Time Machine - leads to odd situations, giving rise to the opportunity of 'harvesting' future knowledge for its use in the present. For instance, you could observe the results of...2024-04-0616 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 11: What is Time? Part IIThis episode continues the investigation into the nature of time. In particular it introduces two philosophical models of time, which are more in tune with scientific thinking. One is Newton's realist view of time. The other, in direct opposition to Newton, is the relational view of time. It was defended by Gottfried Wilhlem Leibniz (1646-1716) in the 17th century. Modern physics seems to be sympathetic to the relational view, at least according to some textbooks on the theory of relativity. I end this episode with a discussion of time in modern physics: the behaviour of atomic systems, and the...2024-04-0623 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 10: What is Time? Part IEpisodes 10 and 11 are an inquiry into the nature of time. It is so large a topic that I have split it into two parts. The current episode, 10, discusses aspects of the measurement of time and the use of clocks. It is easier to discuss the measurement of time than to deal with the philosophical question of the nature of time. In the current episode, after having argued that clocks need to rely on precise and regular natural processes, I briefly mention some cultural and scientific conceptions of time.
Then I begin to look at philosophical models of...2024-04-0631 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 9: What are Scientific Revolutions?In this episode I look at an important aspect of the history of science, namely the occurrence of scientific revolutions. I start with a brief history of the Scientific Revolution (1543-1687), discussing the contributions of Copernicus, Kepler, Galileo and Newton. Their achievements suggest some useful criteria, which help to understand what a scientific revolution is. I look at Kuhn's work on scientific revolutions but, for the reasons explained, give preference to an alternative model (the chain-of-reasoning model). I proceed to test this model with respect to Darwinism and Freudianism.
Darwin passes the test: he was the author...2024-04-0636 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 8: The Natural and the Social Sciences - a ComparisonIn this episode my aim is a comparison of the natural and the social sciences.
My purpose is to understand the similarities and dissimilarities between the natural and the social sciences. Their respective remit is to understand the natural and the social world. How do they achieve understanding of their respective areas of research? They both employ explanation and prediction as tools. These are the similarities. But explanation and prediction in the social sciences are not the same as in the natural sciences. The reason, I propose, has to do with the regularities, which they employ. The natural sciences...2024-04-0627 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 7: How to Distinguish Science from Non-Science?Given the enormous prestige of science, the temptation to call a discipline 'scientific' is understandable; astrology, creationism, Marxism and even psychoanalysis are examples. But how do we distinguish genuine science from pseudo-science? After having defined 'knowledge' I aim to answer this question by proposing some criteria, which should help to draw a line. Traditionally, it was thought that scientific knowledge consists in generalising from the observation of some cases ('some swans') to all cases ('all swans'). This method is called induction. We use inductive reasoning abundantly in our daily lives. Unfortunately, it sometimes fails and it does not do...2024-04-0614 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Part II (History & Philosophy of Science), Episode 6: IntroductionIn this episode, I describe and explain what history and philosophy of science is all about. I like to compare science to a workshop with lots of tools for scientists to understand the natural and the social world. There is of course a lot of mathematics, especially in the hard sciences and economics. They employ theories and models. Scientists also use tools such as explanations, predictions, the laws of nature, theory testing, time and scientific revolutions etc.. But they leave it to philosophers to clarify the use of these tools. Science is a human activity, which has had a...2024-04-0609 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 1: What is Political Philosophy?In this Episode, I define Political Philosophy as an 'investigation into the nature, causes and effects of good and bad government.' I explain what this means and argue that we need Political Philosophy because it constructs conceptual models of fundamental notions - democracy, fairness, freedom, justice - which influence the laws, rules and regulations in society. I characterise conceptual models of networks of interconnected ideas and concepts.
The next episode - Episode 2 - provides a concrete example, because it introduces and discusses the distinction between open and closed societies. 2024-02-0605 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 5: Social JusticeIn this episode I concentrate on the notion of social or distributive justice. That is the question of how the social benefits and burdens are to be distributed amongst citizens in a given society. It is one of the fundamental principles which every society must address. The question already occupied the Greeks but I will focus on some modern views. These views attribute to the State various degrees of involvement in the settlement of social justice. I will discuss Nozick's minimal account, John Rawls's account of justice as fairness, Amartya Sen's capability approach and finally egalitarian, in particular, Marxist...2024-01-3037 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 4: Republican FreedomIn this episode I discuss freedom in a political sense, especially republican freedom. This notion was already discussed in antiquity: I begin with a quote from Cicero. But the focus is on republican freedom from the Age of Enlightenment to the present day. I look at the compatibility or incompatibility of republicanism with monarchy and distinguish republican freedom from more liberal views of freedom. I conclude with the question of civil disobedience with reference to the surprisingly modern views of
Étienne de la Boétie (1530-63) - a French political philosopher, lawyer and friend of Montaigne - of how po...2024-01-3026 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 3: What is Power?In this episode I address the question of the nature of power. A philosophical enquiry demands answers to a number of questions: How should power be characterised? Who possesses power? And under what circumstances can they resist power?
The question can be addressed from various perspectives. I discuss Nietzsche's 'will to power', Foucault's micro-conception of power and Weber's sociological account of power. A consideration of power includes an answer to the question why people tend to comply with power.
2024-01-3022 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Episode 2: Open and Closed SocietiesThe distinction between open and closed societies was first made in the 1930s (Bergson, Popper). Closed societies tend to be traditional, but can be totalitarian in nature. Open societies tend to be democratic in nature. The distinction is as relevant today as it was then. Popper's condemnation of totalitarian societies, in particular, influenced politicians in Europe. The distinction has been taken up and updated by Anthony Giddens and Juergen Habermas. Today, just as then, closed societies exist side-by-side with open societies. In this episode I address the question of how to characterise open, as opposed to closed societies; by...2024-01-3022 minIn the Beginning, there was ... Philosophy.Part I (Political Philosophy): IntroductionIn these podcasts I will concentrate on some topical issues in Political Philosophy, and later in the History and Philosophy of Science. Broadly speaking, Political Philosophy is a social science. So there is a natural transition from issues in Political Philosophy to topics in the Philosophy of Science.
The Introduction explains my approach to philosophy. It focuses on philosophical problems - I give some typical examples - and attempts to solve them, rather than on the ideas of the 'great thinkers'. In fact, I follow Karl Popper who described this approach as 'situational logic'. It is an...2024-01-3005 min