Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
The Portgual Street Philosophy Podcast is the official podcast of the LSE SU Philosophy Society. Each episode, we take a deep dive into a particular philosophy topic, in conversation with leading experts on the subject. By having focused explorations of these topics, we hope to provide accessible introductions and a pathway into the philosophical literature for interested students of all backgrounds.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ Expert-led philosophy deep dives • decision theory, rationality, uncertainty • probability interpretations • quantum mechanics foundations, many-worlds • metaphysics of perception • animal sentience • arguments about God • mathematical philosophy, logic • ethics and pandemic policyThis podcast is the official show of the LSE Students’ Union Philosophy Society and is structured around extended conversations with academic specialists. Across the episodes, it focuses on a single guiding question at a time and uses expert interviews to provide accessible introductions while pointing listeners toward relevant philosophical literature. The topics span several core areas of contemporary philosophy, with a recurring emphasis on how formal tools and scientific developments bear on traditional philosophical problems.
A major thematic cluster concerns rationality, uncertainty, and the formal underpinnings of belief and choice. Discussions examine what probabilities are and how to interpret them, the relationship between subjective credences and objective chance, and the ways probabilistic frameworks connect to rationality (including coherence arguments and “Dutch book” reasoning). Related episodes develop decision theory as an account of how agents should choose under risk and uncertainty, drawing on expected utility theory and representation theorems, and exploring the gap between idealized models and the limits of real decision-makers (such as unawareness, bounded rationality, and evaluative uncertainty). Questions about instrumental rationality extend this focus to what it means for preferences and actions to be coherent, and how debates in practical reason (including Humean and Kantian approaches) connect to decision-theoretic requirements.
Another major strand links philosophy to the foundations of physics and mathematics. The show examines interpretive disputes in quantum mechanics—such as the measurement problem, the Born rule, and competing interpretations including many-worlds, hidden-variable, and collapse approaches—along with concepts like entanglement and decoherence and the role philosophy can play in foundational scientific inquiry. It also engages questions about the role of mathematical methods and structures in philosophical and scientific theorizing.
The podcast also addresses issues in metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and applied ethics. It includes exploration of sensory experience and its metaphysical underpinnings, the nature and evidence of animal sentience and welfare-relevant cognition, and ethical questions about public policy trade-offs, such as balancing health outcomes and economic livelihoods in a pandemic. The overall throughline is careful analysis of major philosophical questions using both conceptual argument and, where relevant, formal and scientific perspectives.
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9. Sean Carroll | What is the correct interpretation of quantum mechanics? 2021-Jun-27 61 minutes |
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8. Anna Mahtani | What are probabilities? 2021-Jun-27 51 minutes |
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7. Richard Bradley | How should we make decisions under uncertainty? 2021-Jun-27 59 minutes |
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6. Johanna Thoma | What are the requirements of instrumental rationality? 2021-Jun-27 72 minutes |
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5. Graham Oppy | Are there any successful arguments for or against the existence of God? 2021-Jun-27 60 minutes |
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4. David Papineau | The Metaphysics of Sensory Experience 2021-Feb-06 53 minutes |
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3. Jonathan Birch | Animal Sentience 2021-Feb-04 48 minutes |
2. Laurenz Hudetz | Mathematical Philosophy: Blessing or Curse?2021-Feb-03 56 minutes |
1. Alex Voorhoeve | How to Balance Lives and Livelihoods in the Face of a Pandemic2021-Feb-03 29 minutes |