Site • RSS • Apple PodcastsDescription (podcaster-provided):
Exploring various aspects of modern and ancient metaphysics as they relate to the hypothesis that powers (or dispositions) are the sole elementary building block in ontology.Themes and summary (AI-generated based on podcaster-provided show and episode descriptions):
➤ powers/dispositions metaphysics • causation, necessity, modality, emergence, grounding • process vs substance ontology • relations and structuralism • Aristotle, Stoicism, Empedocles, Galen • perception, agency, freedom, moral development • philosophy of science, mechanisms, physics-informed ontologyThis podcast features academic talks that connect contemporary metaphysics and philosophy of science with themes from ancient philosophy, with a recurring focus on whether “powers” or dispositions should be treated as fundamental in ontology. Across the episodes, speakers examine how causation, modality, laws of nature, and emergence should be understood if the world is built from powers, processes, or structures rather than from static substances. Several contributions explore whether powers bring about their manifestations necessarily, how counterfactual reasoning bears on causal claims, and what alternatives—such as law-based or structuralist accounts—might replace a powers-based metaphysics, especially in light of modern physics.
A prominent thread concerns the relationship between microphysical description and higher-level phenomena, including debates over weak versus strong emergence, the explanatory status of ordinary macroscopic objects, and the persistence and composition of complex entities. Other discussions investigate process ontology and its implications for objects, grounding, and the nature of causal production.
The podcast also devotes substantial attention to ancient philosophical sources—especially Aristotle, Stoicism (including Marcus Aurelius), Empedocles, and later medical writers such as Galen—treating them as resources for current debates about dynamics, perception, psychological and physiological capacities, ethical development, political holism, and the individuation of powers. Additional themes include the metaphysics of relations (internal vs external relations, positionalism, and skepticism about relations), collective agency and social cognition, and methodological questions about how metaphysical knowledge can be justified in relation to science, conceptual analysis, and theoretical parsimony.