Shows
Philosophical TrialsRobert Sapolsky vs Kevin Mitchell: The Biology of Free Will | Episode 15Professor Robert Sapolsky is a Professor of Biology, Neurology, and Surgery at Stanford University. He is the author of multiple books, including A Primate’s Memoir, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, Behave, and Determined. Professor Kevin Mitchell is a Professor of Genetics and Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, whose research concerns the relationship between the wiring of the brain and the human faculties. His books include Innate and Free Agents. Today’s debate was about whether the empirical literature in the biological sciences allows us to make progress on the free will debate.Conversation Outline: 00...
2023-11-181h 13Philosophical TrialsNoam Chomsky on Language Evolution and Semantic Internalism | Episode 14Noam Chomsky has been described as "the father of modern linguistics". He is one of the leading public intellectuals of the world, having authored over 100 books. Chomsky has made seminal contributions to multiple fields, including Linguistics, Philosophy, and Cognitive Science. At the moment, he is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Conversation Outline: 00:00 Intro 00:37 How did you manage to be so productive? 01:07 What got you introduced to Linguistics and Philosophy? 02:47 What were courses like Syntax back in the day before you revolutionised the field? 04:42 What makes human languages differ...
2023-05-0952 minPhilosophical TrialsA.C. Grayling on Atheism and The Frontiers of Knowledge | Episode 13Professor A.C. Grayling is one of the most prolific philosophers and public intellectuals. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Master of the New College of the Humanities and a Supernumerary Fellow of St. Anne’s College, Oxford. He made important contributions to Analytic Philosophy, primarily in Epistemology, Metaphysics and Philosophical Logic. Prof. Grayling wrote more than 40 books, including The God Argument, The History of Philosophy and The Frontiers of Knowledge. Conversation Outline: 00:00 Introduction00:46 How did you get into Philosophy?03:23 What was your PhD Thesis on? Thoughts on Skep...
2022-07-021h 06Philosophical TrialsWilliam Lane Craig on Christianity and Philosophy of Religion | Episode 12Professor William Lane Craig is a world-renowned theologian and philosopher of religion. He authored dozens of books on these topics, including The Kalām Cosmological Argument (1979), God Over All (2016), The Atonement (2018), In Quest of the Historical Adam (2021) and many others. Besides his academic scholarship, Professor Craig is internationally known for his debates with various academic and popular atheists such as Christopher Hitchens, Lawrence Krauss, Sam Harris, Peter Millican, Arif Ahmed and many others.You can find more details about Prof. Craig’s works on his public website: https://www.reasonablefaith.org/ Conversation Outline: 00:00 Guest...
2022-05-2853 minPhilosophical TrialsVicky Neale on 'Why Study Mathematics?' and the Twin Prime Conjecture | Episode 11Dr Vicky Neale is the Whitehead Lecturer at the Mathematical Institute and Balliol College at the University of Oxford. She is also a Supernumerary Fellow at Balliol and the author of two great books aimed at general audiences, namely ‘Closing the Gap’ and ‘Why Study Mathematics?’. Vicky Neale is a great communicator of Mathematics. She was given an MPLS Teaching Award in 2016 and she also won an award for being the Most Acclaimed Lecturer in MPLS in the student-led Oxford University Student Union Teaching Awards 2015.Follow her on Twitter: @VickyMaths1729 For some clear proofs of...
2021-06-0842 minPhilosophical TrialsPeter Koellner on Penrose's New Argument concerning Minds and Machines | Episode 10Professor Peter Koellner is a leading Logician and Philosopher based at Harvard University. He has made very important contributions to areas surrounding Mathematical Logic and today he was kind enough to join me for a discussion on Penrose's arguments against the prospects of mechanizing the mind (given Kurt Gödel's work on Incompleteness). Note: I am sorry for the occasional internet connection problems. I hope the relevant parts can still be understood! Conversation Outline: 00:00 What are the Incompleteness Theorems?01:59 Why are Gödel’s results relevant for discussions concerning the mind?03:28 Connect...
2021-02-0347 minPhilosophical TrialsSara L. Uckelman on Medieval Logic, Onomastics and Teaching | Episode 9Dr Sara L. Uckelman is an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Durham. She earned her PhD in Logic at the University of Amsterdam and her research interests cover many interesting areas including Medieval Logic, Onomastics, Philosophy of Fiction (among others). Today she kindly joined me for a fun discussion on many logic-related topics: I hope you’ll enjoy it!Conversation Outline: 00:00 Introduction01:43 University teaching during the pandemic04:15 “What is Logic?” YouTube series06:00 So, what is Logic?09:18 Should all University undergraduates have some logical training?13:50 Some History of Logic
2020-10-1248 minPhilosophical TrialsTimothy Williamson on Relativism and Vagueness | Episode 8Professor Timothy Williamson is one of the most important philosophers alive. He is the Wykeham Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford, a position that he has been holding since 2000. His groundbreaking work in the areas of philosophical logic, philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics has shaped many of the contemporary debates. Today I’m joined by him to discuss Relativism about Truth and the Epistemic account of Vagueness. Enjoy!Conversation outline: 00:00 Introduction: What is Philosophy? 03:11 Can Philosophy help you have a better life?06:47 What’s the story behind your book “Tetralogue”? A discussi...
2020-07-291h 10Philosophical TrialsThomas Cormen on The CLRS Textbook, P=NP and Computer Algorithms | Episode 7Thomas Cormen is a world-renowned Computer Scientist, famous for co-writing the indispensable 'Introduction to Algorithms' textbook. He is currently a professor at Dartmouth College and former Chairman of the Dartmouth College Department of Computer Science. In 2013 he wrote a wonderful algorithmic book aimed at nonexperts which is entitled 'Algorithms Unlocked'. Professor Cormen also is well-known online for being Top Writer on Quora on numerous years, most recently in 2018. He is a great communicator of Computer Science and I hope you will enjoy the following conversation!00:00 Intro00:16 The story of CLRS plus remarks on the 4th...
2020-06-2443 minPhilosophical TrialsScott Aaronson on Computational Complexity, Philosophy & Quantum Computing | Episode 6Scott Aaronson is a world-renowned expert in the fields of Quantum Computing and Computational Complexity Theory. He is a David J. Bruton Centennial Professor of Computer Science at The University of Texas at Austin. Every Computer Science enthusiast knows who Prof. Aaronson is because of his extremely clear and engaging way of communicating difficult theoretical ideas. His book Quantum Computing since Democritus is a wonderful resource of dipping into the topics that we are discussing today. Conversation outline: 00:00 Introduction01:04 What draws you to Philosophy?04:36 The importance of focusing of subproblems of th...
2020-06-201h 25Philosophical TrialsKai von Fintel on Language, Semantics and Possible Worlds | Episode 5Professor Kai von Fintel is a world-leading linguist (Section Head at MIT) who is well known for his contributions to Semantics, an academic fields which sits at the intersection of many disciplines which is typically concerned with the meaning of linguistic expressions. He is the co-founder of the open access journal Semantics & Pragmatics. You can find more about his work on his website: https://www.kaivonfintel.org Conversation Outline: 00:00 Introduction00:18 What is special about language? 03:31 How did we (as a species) get linguistic abilities?05:24 What do people who work in Semantics do? ...
2020-06-161h 14Philosophical TrialsEd Cooke on Memory Competitions, The Art of Remembering and Attention | Episode 4Ed Cooke is a Grandmaster of Memory and the CEO and co-founder of Memrise, one of the most used Language Learning apps in the world. He was also a main character in the international bestseller “Moonwalking with Einstein”. He graduated with a first-class degree in Psychology and Philosophy from the University of Oxford and today we are discussing various memory related issues, briefly described in the following timestamps:00:00 Memrise introduction00:39 Grandmaster of Memory and memory feats01:40 How long have you been into the art of memory?02:48 Did your memory skills benefit your life outside comp...
2020-05-2935 minPhilosophical TrialsTim Crane on Minds, Artificial Intelligence and Consciousness | Episode 3Tim Crane is a world leading philosopher whose areas of research gravitate towards the study of the mind. His book, The Mechanical Mind, has introduced thousands of people to the central ideas which unite Artificial Intelligence, Philosophy of Mind and Cognitive Science. He is currently the Head of Department at the Central European University, having previously been the Knightbridge Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cambridge.Conversation outline: 00:00 The problem of mental representation10:38 Can a computer think? Is the Turing Test satisfactory?14:15 Can a robot think?18:32 What is the Computational Theory...
2020-05-161h 03Philosophical TrialsSimon Blackburn on Philosophy, Truth and Morality | Episode 2Simon Blackburn is a Fellow of the British Academy. He is a Professor of Philosophy at Trinity College, University of Cambridge who is well known for his contribution to meta-ethics (where he defends quasi-realism) and for his excellent introductory books (such as 'Think' or 'Being Good'). Outline of the conversation:00:10 What motivated you to write 'Think'?02:00 What is the role of Philosophy?04:10 Progress in Philosophy07:18 Remarks on the notion of Truth09:27 Deflationism about Truth14:15 The Correspondence Theory of Truth and problems with Facts17:40 Is there anything wrong with abstract objects?
2020-05-1652 min
Philosophical TrialsJoel David Hamkins on Infinity, Gödel's Theorems and Set Theory | Episode 1Joel David Hamkins is an American Mathematician who is currently Professor of Logic at the University of Oxford. He is well known for his important contributions in the fields of Mathematical Logic, Set Theory and Philosophy of Mathematics. Moreover, he is very popular in the mathematical community for being the highest rated user on MathOverflow. Outline of the conversation:00:00 Podcast Introduction00:50 MathOverflow and books in progress04:08 Mathphobia05:58 What is mathematics and what sets it apart?08:06 Is mathematics invented or discovered (more at 54:28)09:24 How is it the case that Mathematics can be...
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