Twitter: @KimptonNye (followed by 425 philosophers)
Site: condensedmatter.buzzsprout.com
35 episodes
2021 to present
Average episode: 19 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Monologue (Non-Course)
Podcaster's summary: 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; https://www.metascience.xyz) at the Unversity of Bristol. Music: NaturesEye from Pixabay. Art: Francesca Smith
| Episodes |
| 2023-Jan-19 • 14 minutes 34: "The Limits of Modality", Sam Cowling 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... |
| 2022-Dec-22 • 37 minutes 33: "Biochemical Functions", Francesca Bellazzi (deep dive featuring the author!) 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 paperClick here for more about Francesca Click here for more about the MetaScience project Support the show |
| 2022-Aug-24 • 74 minutes 32: "Substance", Donnchadh O'Conaill (deep dive featuring the author!) In this episode, I ask Donnchadh O'Conaill about themes from his book "Substance" which is forthcoming with Cambridge University Press as part of the Cambridge Elements in Metaphysics series. We cover the roles in metaphysical theorising that substance plays, candidate examples of substance, the methodology of metaphysics and its relationship to science among other things. Click here for more about Donnchadh Click here for the Elements in Metaphysics Support the show |
| 2022-Jul-27 • 46 minutes 31: "Biological Individuality and the Foetus Problem", Will Morgan (deep dive featuring the author!) In this episode, I talk to my Bristol MetaScience colleague, Dr Will Morgan, about his recently published paper in which he argues that if we accept the physiological approach to biological individuality, it seems that a foetus never becomes the organism that is present after birth. This then raises the difficult question: what happens to the foetus? We also touch on the relevance of metaphysics to biology and to ethics. You can read the paper hereClick here for more about WillSupport the show |
| 2022-Jul-06 • 15 minutes 30: “How Skeptical is Quine’s “Modal Skepticism”?”, John Divers Was Quine really a modal sceptic--someone who thought that modality was unintelligible or paradoxical? Divers thinks he is better cast as a non-sceptical modal anti-realist. Here's a link to the paper: https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/122483/1/how%20Skeptical%3F.pdfSupport... the show |
| 2022-Apr-06 • 9 minutes Ep. 29: "Modal Conventionalism", Ross Cameron The focus of this episode is Ross Cameron's "Modal Conventionalism" published in The Routledge Handbook of Modality in 2021. Here is a link to the paper, but these handbooks are insanely expensive, which I suppose is a good reason to do more episodes based on their chapters! Support the show |
| 2022-Mar-16 • 9 minutes Ep. 28: "Panpsychism", Thomas Nagel (CM classic!) The focus of this episode is Thomas Nagel’s “Panpsychism”, published by Cambridge University Press in his “Mortal Questions” anthology. This isn’t a recent paper, it was first published in 1979. But it is a nice, sober, discussion of panpsychism that makes quite clear a relatively sensible motivation for the view as well as what is involved in its denial. This all makes for a nice change to some of the rather heated public debates of the issue nowadays. So, call this a Condensed Matter classic. Maybe I’ll d... |
| 2022-Feb-02 • 12 minutes Ep. 27: “Modal dispositionalism and necessary perfect masks”, Barbara Vetter and Ralf Busse Support the show on Patreon to gain instant access to searchable, comment-on-able PDF scripts of all solo episodes! Your support will help to defray hosting and equipment costs and is very much appreciated. The focus of this episode is “Modal dispositionalism and necessary perfect masks”, by Barbara Vetter and Ralf Busse, forthcoming in Analysis. Link to the paper: https://academic.oup.com/analysis/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/analys/an... You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's ... |
| 2022-Jan-26 • 49 minutes Ep. 26: "An Apology for Naturalized Metaphysics", James Ladyman (deep dive featuring the author!) Support the show on Patreon to gain instant access to searchable, comment-on-able PDF scripts of all solo episodes! Your support will help to defray hosting and equipment costs and is very much appreciated. For this episode, I’m joined by Professor James Ladyman to discuss his paper "An Apology for Naturalized Metaphysics", published in 2017 by Oxford University Press in Metaphysics and the Philosophy of Science edited by Matthew Slater and Zanja Yudell. James is professor of philosophy at the Uni... |
| 2021-Dec-22 • 48 minutes Ep. 25 "The Governing Conception of Laws", Nina Emery (deep dive featuring the author!) For this episode, I’m joined by Professor Nina Emery to discuss her paper “The Governing Conception of Laws", forthcoming in Ergo. Nina is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Mount Holyoak College. Nina is also the president-elect of the society for the metaphysics of science. Link to the paper: https://philarchive.org/archive/EMETGC More about Nina: http://www.ninaemery.org/The Society for the Metaphysics of Science: https://socmetsci.org/If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review it on your ... |
| 2021-Dec-15 • 10 minutes Ep. 24: “Going Beyond the Fundamental: Feminism in Contemporary Metaphysics”, Elizabeth Barnes Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You'll also now get access to PDF scripts of the solo episodes! You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Dec-01 • 12 minutes Ep. 23: "Governing Without a Fundamental Direction of Time", Chen and Goldstein Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You'll also now get access to PDF scripts of the solo episodes! You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Nov-03 • 11 minutes Ep. 22: "Aristotelian Supervenience", John Heil Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You'll also now get access to PDF scripts of the solo episodes! You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Oct-27 • 10 minutes Episode 21: "Causal Content and Global Laws: Grounding Modality in Experimental Practice", Jenann Ismael Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You'll also now get access to PDF scripts of the solo episodes! You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Oct-20 • 12 minutes Episode 20: "Disagreement in Metaphysics", Timothy WIlliamson Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. I'm also thinking about what else I can offer Patreon supporters, so support the show and you'll be first to know!You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Oct-13 • 11 minutes Episode 19: "Realism Without Parochialism", Phillip Bricker Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Oct-06 • 14 minutes Episode 18: "Metaphysics After Carnap: the Ghost Who Walks?", Huw Price Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Sep-29 • 11 minutes Episode 17: "Social kinds are essentially mind-dependent", Rebecca Mason Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Sep-22 • 11 minutes Episode 16: "Calculus and counterpossibles in science", Brian McLoone Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Sep-15 • 12 minutes Episode 15: "The rationality of metaphysics", E.J. Lowe The focus of this episode is E.J. Lowe's "The rationality of metaphysics", published in Synthese in 2011.**I have a slip of the tongue in the recording and say that the paper was published in 2021! It was definitely published in 2011. Click here for the article.If you are enjoying Condensed Matter, please consider supporting the show on Patreon. In recognition of your support, you'll get the opportunity to suggest articles and guests for future episodes. You can carry on the discussion ... |
| 2021-Sep-08 • 40 minutes Episode 14: "Where Do You Get Your Protein? Or: Biochemical Realization", Tuomas Tahko (deep dive featuring the author!) For this episode, I’m joined by Professor Tuomas Tahko to discuss his paper “Where Do You Get Your Protein? Or: Biochemical Realization", published in The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science in 2020. Tuomas is Professor of Metaphysics of Science at the University of Bristol and principal investigator on the ERC funded MetaScience project. Link to the paper: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1093/bjps/axy044More... about Tuomas: https://www.ttahko.net/The MetaScience project: https://m... |
| 2021-Sep-01 • 9 minutes Episode 13: "Norms and Modality", Amie Thomasson The focus of this episode is Amie Thomasson’s article “Norms and Modality”, published in the Routledge Handbook of Modality in 2021. Link to the article: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315742144-17/norms-modal... Thomasson: https://philpapers.org/s/Amie%20L.%20Thomasson... If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review it on your favourite app so more people can find it. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Supp... |
| 2021-Aug-25 • 54 minutes Episode 12: "What Everyone Should Say about Symmetries (and How Humeans Get to Say It)", Michael Townsen Hicks (deep dive featuring the author!) For this episode, I’m joined by Dr Michael Townsen Hicks to discuss his paper “What Everyone Should Say about Symmetries (and How Humeans Get to Say It)”, published in Philosophy of Science in 2019. Mike is a research fellow on the FramePhys project at the University of Birmingham. Link to the paper: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/705475More... about Mike: https://www.townsenhicks.com/The FraMEPhys project: https://framephys.org/ If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review it on your ... |
| 2021-Aug-18 • 12 minutes Episode 11: “Nomothetic Explanation and Humeanism about Laws of Nature”, Harjit Bhogal The focus of this episode is Harjit Bhogal’s article “Nomothetic Explanation and Humeanism about Laws of Nature”, published in Oxford Studies in Metaphysics in 2020. Link to the paper: https://philarchive.org/rec/BHONEA If you enjoyed the show, please rate and review it on your favourite app so more people can find it. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Instagram page. Thanks for listening! Support the show |
| 2021-Aug-11 • 15 minutes Episode 10: "Realism and the Absence of Value", Shamik Dasgupta The focus of this episode is Shamik Dasgupta's article "Realism and the Absence of Value", published in The Philosophical Review in 2018.Link to the article: https://read.dukeupress.edu/the-philosophical-review/article-abstract/127/3/279/... http://shamik.net/papers/dasgupta%20realism%20and%20the%20absence%20of%20value.p... you enjoyed the show, please rate and review it on your favourite app so more people can find it. You can carry on the discussion on Twitter and there's even an Insta... |
| 2021-Aug-04 • 27 minutes Episode 9: "Megarian Variable Actualism", Toby Friend (deep dive featuring the author!) In this episode, Dr Toby Friend and I take a deep dive into his article "Megarian Variable Actualism", published in Synthese in 2021. Link to the paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-021-03257-7More... on Toby Friend: https://sites.google.com/view/tobyfriendSupport... the show |
| 2021-Jul-28 • 9 minutes Episode 8: "Sideways music", Ned Markosian The focus of this episode is Ned Markosian's paper "Sideways music, published in Analysis in 2019.Link to the paper: https://academic.oup.com/analysis/article-abstract/80/1/51/5543488?redirectedFro... the show |
| 2021-Jul-21 • 12 minutes Episode 7: "The Ground Between the Gaps", Jonathan Schaffer The focus of this episode is Jonathan Schaffer’s “The ground between the gaps”, published in Philosophers’ Imprint in 2017. Link to the paper: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/p/phimp/3521354.0017.011/--ground-between-the-gaps?vi... the show |
| 2021-Jul-14 • 10 minutes Episode 6: "Conceptualizing causal powers: activity, capacity, essence, necessitation", Ruth Groff The focus of this episode is Ruth Groff’s article: “Conceptualizing causal powers: activity, capacity, essence, necessitation”. Published in Synthese in 2021 as part of the topical collection “New Foundations of Dispositionalism,” edited by Andrea Raimondi and Lorenzo Azzano. Link to the paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-021-03229-xSupport... the show |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 9 minutes Episode 5: "There Are No Ahistorical Theories of Function", Justin Garson The focus of this episode is Justin Garson’s article "There Are No Ahistorical Theories of Function" published in Philosophy of Science in 2019. Link: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/705472... Support the show |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 9 minutes Episode 4: "Troubles with Theoretical Virtues: Resisting Theoretical Utility Arguments in Metaphysics", Otávio Bueno and Scott Shalkowski The focus of this episode is Otávio Bueno and Scott Shalkowski’s article: Troubles with Theoretical Virtues: Resisting Theoretical Utility Arguments in Metaphysics, published in Philosophy and Phenomenological Research in 2019. Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/phpr.12597Support... the show |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 9 minutes Episode 3: "Ramseyan Humility", David Lewis The focus of this episode is David Lewis’s "Ramseyan Humility" published In David Braddon-Mitchell & Robert Nola’s (eds.), Conceptual Analysis and Philosophical Naturalism. MIT Press. 2009. Link: https://philpapers.org/rec/LEWRH Support the show |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 16 minutes Episode 2: "Fundamental Powers, Evolved Powers, and Mental Powers", Alexander Bird; "Evolved Powers, Artefact Powers, and Dispositional Explanations", Barbara Vetter This episode a two for one: I’ll be discussing an exchange between Alexander Bird and Barbara Vetter that takes the form of two articles, one by each author, published in the proceedings of the Aristotelian Society in 2018. Bird: https://academic.oup.com/aristoteliansupp/article-abstract/92/1/247/5032734... Vetter: https://academic.oup.com/aristoteliansupp/article-abstract/92/1/277/5032735Suppo... the show |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 11 minutes Episode 1: "How scientific models can explain", Alisa Bokulich The focus of this episode is Alisa Bokulich’s article "How scientific models can explain", published in Synthese in 2011. Link to the article: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11229-009-9565-1Support... the show |
| 2021-Jul-07 • 3 minutes Episode 0: Introducing Condensed Matter Welcome to Condensed Matter, condensing recent work in metaphysics and the philosophy of science down to what matters.Support the show |