Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Condensing recent work in metaphysics and the philosophy of science down to what matters. Hosted by Dr Sam Kimpton-Nye, research associate on the MetaScience project (ERC, Horizon 2020, grant agreement No 771509; www.metascience.xyz) at the Unversity of Bristol. Music: NaturesEye from Pixabay. Art: Francesca SmithThemes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ metaphysics and philosophy of science • modality: possibility, necessity, possible worlds, modal skepticism/conventionalism • laws of nature, Humeanism, causation, grounding • quantum measurement, time, symmetry • naturalized metaphysics • functions, biology, individuality • AI singularity • realism, values, social kindsThis podcast presents accessible discussions of contemporary work in metaphysics and the philosophy of science, typically organized around close engagement with influential journal articles and books, sometimes in extended “deep dive” conversations with the authors. Across the episodes, the show focuses on how philosophical tools can illuminate scientific practice and how developments in the sciences can constrain or motivate metaphysical theorizing.
A recurring theme is modality—possibility, necessity, and counterfactual reasoning. The podcast examines debates about how modal notions should be understood (including challenges to standard interdefinitions of possibility and necessity), how possible-worlds frameworks might be limited, and how figures such as Quine are best interpreted regarding skepticism or anti-realism about modality. Related discussions treat dispositions and powers, including how masking and causal powers bear on modal claims.
Another central strand concerns laws of nature and scientific explanation: Humean approaches to laws, governing conceptions, nomothetic explanation, symmetries, grounding, and the role of theoretical virtues in evaluating metaphysical proposals. Several episodes connect these issues to physics, including the measurement problem in quantum mechanics and questions about time and global laws.
The podcast also engages philosophy of biology and function, addressing what counts as a genuine function versus an accident, how evolutionary and biochemical considerations bear on functional attributions, and how biological individuality raises puzzles with ethical relevance. Additional topics include realism and value, mind and consciousness (including panpsychism), social kinds and mind-dependence, and philosophical analysis of emerging technologies such as AI and the “singularity.” Overall, the content centers on clarifying core concepts, mapping live disputes, and exploring methodology at the intersection of metaphysics and science.
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37: "Why Being Necessary Really Is Not the Same As Being Not Possibly Not", Dana Goswick 2024-Jun-04 9 minutes |
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36: "The Singularity: A Philosophical Analysis", David Chalmers 2023-Jul-19 23 minutes |
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35: "There is no measurement problem for Humeans", Chris Dorst 2023-Jul-08 16 minutes |
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34: "The Limits of Modality", Sam Cowling 2023-Jan-19 13 minutes |
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33: "Biochemical Functions", Francesca Bellazzi (deep dive featuring the author!) 2022-Dec-22 37 minutes |
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32: "Substance", Donnchadh O'Conaill (deep dive featuring the author!) 2022-Aug-23 73 minutes |
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31: "Biological Individuality and the Foetus Problem", Will Morgan (deep dive featuring the author!) 2022-Jul-26 45 minutes |
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30: “How Skeptical is Quine’s “Modal Skepticism”?”, John Divers 2022-Jul-05 14 minutes |
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Ep. 29: "Modal Conventionalism", Ross Cameron 2022-Apr-06 9 minutes |
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Ep. 28: "Panpsychism", Thomas Nagel (CM classic!) 2022-Mar-16 9 minutes |
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Ep. 27: “Modal dispositionalism and necessary perfect masks”, Barbara Vetter and Ralf Busse 2022-Feb-02 11 minutes |
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Ep. 26: "An Apology for Naturalized Metaphysics", James Ladyman (deep dive featuring the author!) 2022-Jan-26 49 minutes |
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Ep. 25 "The Governing Conception of Laws", Nina Emery (deep dive featuring the author!) 2021-Dec-22 48 minutes |
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Ep. 24: “Going Beyond the Fundamental: Feminism in Contemporary Metaphysics”, Elizabeth Barnes 2021-Dec-15 9 minutes |
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Ep. 23: "Governing Without a Fundamental Direction of Time", Chen and Goldstein 2021-Dec-01 11 minutes |
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Ep. 22: "Aristotelian Supervenience", John Heil 2021-Nov-03 11 minutes |
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Episode 21: "Causal Content and Global Laws: Grounding Modality in Experimental Practice", Jenann Ismael 2021-Oct-27 10 minutes |
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Episode 20: "Disagreement in Metaphysics", Timothy WIlliamson 2021-Oct-20 12 minutes |
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Episode 19: "Realism Without Parochialism", Phillip Bricker 2021-Oct-13 10 minutes |
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Episode 18: "Metaphysics After Carnap: the Ghost Who Walks?", Huw Price 2021-Oct-06 13 minutes |
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Episode 17: "Social kinds are essentially mind-dependent", Rebecca Mason 2021-Sep-29 11 minutes |
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Episode 16: "Calculus and counterpossibles in science", Brian McLoone 2021-Sep-22 11 minutes |
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Episode 15: "The rationality of metaphysics", E.J. Lowe 2021-Sep-15 12 minutes |
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Episode 14: "Where Do You Get Your Protein? Or: Biochemical Realization", Tuomas Tahko (deep dive featuring the author!) 2021-Sep-08 40 minutes |
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Episode 13: "Norms and Modality", Amie Thomasson 2021-Sep-01 9 minutes |
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Episode 12: "What Everyone Should Say about Symmetries (and How Humeans Get to Say It)", Michael Townsen Hicks (deep dive featuring the author!) 2021-Aug-25 54 minutes |
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Episode 11: “Nomothetic Explanation and Humeanism about Laws of Nature”, Harjit Bhogal 2021-Aug-18 12 minutes |
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Episode 10: "Realism and the Absence of Value", Shamik Dasgupta 2021-Aug-11 14 minutes |
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Episode 9: "Megarian Variable Actualism", Toby Friend (deep dive featuring the author!) 2021-Aug-04 27 minutes |
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Episode 8: "Sideways music", Ned Markosian 2021-Jul-28 9 minutes |
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Episode 7: "The Ground Between the Gaps", Jonathan Schaffer 2021-Jul-21 11 minutes |
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Episode 6: "Conceptualizing causal powers: activity, capacity, essence, necessitation", Ruth Groff 2021-Jul-14 10 minutes |
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Episode 5: "There Are No Ahistorical Theories of Function", Justin Garson 2021-Jul-07 8 minutes |
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Episode 4: "Troubles with Theoretical Virtues: Resisting Theoretical Utility Arguments in Metaphysics", Otávio Bueno and Scott Shalkowski 2021-Jul-07 9 minutes |
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Episode 3: "Ramseyan Humility", David Lewis 2021-Jul-07 8 minutes |
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Episode 2: "Fundamental Powers, Evolved Powers, and Mental Powers", Alexander Bird; "Evolved Powers, Artefact Powers, and Dispositional Explanations", Barbara Vetter 2021-Jul-07 16 minutes |
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Episode 1: "How scientific models can explain", Alisa Bokulich 2021-Jul-07 10 minutes |
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Episode 0: Introducing Condensed Matter 2021-Jul-07 2 minutes |