Condensed Matter

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 ...

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 ene...

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,...

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. Support the s...

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 Support...