238 - Barry Loewer: What Is The Philosophy of Science?

Barry Loewer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers. Before that he did his PhD in philosophy at Stanford. Barry works largely in the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of science, and metaphysics. This is Barry’s third appearance on the show. He was last on episode 189 with David Albert, in which Robinson, David, and Barry discussed David and Barry’s joint program known as “The Mentaculus”, which they use to solve many problems in the foundations of physics, from probability to the direction of time. In this episode, Barry and Robinson discuss the philosophical foundations of science, touching on the relationship between science and pseudoscience, Karl Popper, string theory, scientific realism, and many other important debates and figures. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life. The Probability Map of the Universe: https://a.co/d/4XoYTMY The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 7:53 On Pseudoscience and Astrology 11:40 Falsification as a Criterion of Science 16:40 Is String Theory Pseudoscience? 20:14 On Marxism 24:45 What Is Scientific Realism? 34:35 On Hilary Putnam 42:16 Science Vs Metaphysics 48:32 Time in Science and Metaphysics 52:38 On Fundamentalia 56:01 On Reductionism 1:00:04 On Consciousness and Emergence 1:04:56 On Causation 1:25:52 On Time Travel 1:28:29 On Explanation and Thermodynamics 1:39:23 On Free Will 1:47:00 The Laws of Nature Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.