EPISODE · Jan 13, 2026 · 1H 57M
Timothy Williamson: The Logician Who Says Vagueness Has Exact Answers
from Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal · host Theories of Everything
Timothy Williamson (Oxford) challenges modal logic, epistemic possibility, and the nature of philosophical knowledge.I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE SUPPORT: - Support me on Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 JOIN MY SUBSTACK (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e TIMESTAMPS: - 00:00:00 - Vagueness & Sorites Paradox - 00:07:12 - Identity, Physicalism, Non-Physicals - 00:22:30 - Realism vs. Anti-Realism - 00:29:50 - The Problem of Skepticism - 00:35:40 - Cognitive Heuristics & Doubt - 00:43:00 - Solipsism's Appeal & Pitfalls - 00:50:00 - Solipsism: A Critique - 00:57:30 - Pluralism & Consciousness - 01:06:00 - AI, Mental States, Ontology - 01:15:50 - Mind, Knowledge, Meaning - 01:26:00 - Philosophical Heuristics - 01:32:00 - Counterfactuals & Logic - 01:38:00 - Personal Philosophy LINKS MENTIONED: - Overfitting and Heuristics in Philosophy [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Overfitting-Heuristics-Philosophy-Rutgers-Lectures/dp/0197779212 - Timothy Williamson's Published Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IH-44VwAAAAJ&hl=en - Sorites Paradox: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sorites-paradox/ - Philosophical Investigations [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Investigations-Ludwig-Wittgenstein/dp/0631205691 - I Do Not Exist [Paper]: https://academic.oup.com/book/53296/chapter-abstract/422023005 - O'Shaughnessy Ventures: https://www.osv.llc/ - Barry Loewer & Eddy Chen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xZnafO__IZ0 - Bas Van Fraassen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/lhpRAWxvY5s - Matthew Segall [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DeTm4fSXpbM - Jennifer Nagel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/CWZVMZ9Tm7Q - Leo Gura [TOE]: https://youtu.be/YspFR9JAq3w - Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/M-SgOwc6Pe4 - The Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk - Karl Friston [TOE]: https://youtu.be/uk4NZorRjCo - Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE - Elan Barenholtz [TOE]: https://youtu.be/A36OumnSrWY - Ben Goertzel & Joscha Bach [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA - Claudia de Rham [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ve_Mpd6dGv8 - Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 - Elan Barenholtz & Will Hahn [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ca_RbPXraDE - Greg Kondrak [TOE]: https://youtu.be/FFW14zSYiFY - Robert Sapolsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/z0IqA1hYKY8 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What this episode covers
Timothy Williamson (Oxford) challenges modal logic, epistemic possibility, and the nature of philosophical knowledge.I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE SUPPORT: - Support me on Substack: https://curtjaimungal.substack.com/subscribe - Crypto: https://nowpayments.io/donation/TOE - Support me on PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=XUBHNMFXUX5S4 JOIN MY SUBSTACK (Personal Writings): https://curtjaimungal.substack.com LISTEN ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e TIMESTAMPS: - 00:00:00 - Vagueness & Sorites Paradox - 00:07:12 - Identity, Physicalism, Non-Physicals - 00:22:30 - Realism vs. Anti-Realism - 00:29:50 - The Problem of Skepticism - 00:35:40 - Cognitive Heuristics & Doubt - 00:43:00 - Solipsism's Appeal & Pitfalls - 00:50:00 - Solipsism: A Critique - 00:57:30 - Pluralism & Consciousness - 01:06:00 - AI, Mental States, Ontology - 01:15:50 - Mind, Knowledge, Meaning - 01:26:00 - Philosophical Heuristics - 01:32:00 - Counterfactuals & Logic - 01:38:00 - Personal Philosophy LINKS MENTIONED: - Overfitting and Heuristics in Philosophy [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Overfitting-Heuristics-Philosophy-Rutgers-Lectures/dp/0197779212 - Timothy Williamson's Published Papers: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=IH-44VwAAAAJ&hl=en - Sorites Paradox: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sorites-paradox/ - Philosophical Investigations [Book]: https://www.amazon.com/Philosophical-Investigations-Ludwig-Wittgenstein/dp/0631205691 - I Do Not Exist [Paper]: https://academic.oup.com/book/53296/chapter-abstract/422023005 - O'Shaughnessy Ventures: https://www.osv.llc/ - Barry Loewer & Eddy Chen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xZnafO__IZ0 - Bas Van Fraassen [TOE]: https://youtu.be/lhpRAWxvY5s - Matthew Segall [TOE]: https://youtu.be/DeTm4fSXpbM - Jennifer Nagel [TOE]: https://youtu.be/CWZVMZ9Tm7Q - Leo Gura [TOE]: https://youtu.be/YspFR9JAq3w - Iain McGilchrist [TOE]: https://youtu.be/M-SgOwc6Pe4 - The Consciousness Iceberg [TOE]: https://youtu.be/65yjqIDghEk - Karl Friston [TOE]: https://youtu.be/uk4NZorRjCo - Geoffrey Hinton [TOE]: https://youtu.be/b_DUft-BdIE - Elan Barenholtz [TOE]: https://youtu.be/A36OumnSrWY - Ben Goertzel & Joscha Bach [TOE]: https://youtu.be/xw7omaQ8SgA - Claudia de Rham [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ve_Mpd6dGv8 - Stephen Wolfram [TOE]: https://youtu.be/0YRlQQw0d-4 - Elan Barenholtz & Will Hahn [TOE]: https://youtu.be/Ca_RbPXraDE - Greg Kondrak [TOE]: https://youtu.be/FFW14zSYiFY - Robert Sapolsky [TOE]: https://youtu.be/z0IqA1hYKY8 SOCIALS: - Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt - Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs Guests do not pay to appear. Theories of Everything receives revenue solely from viewer donations, platform ads, and clearly labelled sponsors; no guest or associated entity has ever given compensation, directly or through intermediaries. #science Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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Timothy Williamson: The Logician Who Says Vagueness Has Exact Answers
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