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77 - Stephen Yablo: Non-Existence Claims, Jokes, and Defining Philosophy

77 - Stephen Yablo: Non-Existence Claims, Jokes, and Defining Philosophy

Robinson's Podcast vor 3 Jahren

0:00

1:55:51

Stephen Yablo is David W. Skinner Professor of Philosophy at MIT.
Before MIT, he taught at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Steve works in metaphysics, philosophy of mathematics, and the
philosophy of mind and language, though his work extends into
other areas of philosophy as well. In this conversation, for
instance, Robinson and Steve discuss the nature of philosophy and
what distinguishes it from other fields, as well as the
philosophy of jokes and humor. They also speak about the
philosophy of language, and more particularly how to deal with
negative existential statements (sentences of the form
“such-and-such does not exist”). Check out Steve’s latest book,
Aboutness (Princeton, 2019), which develops a theory of subject
matter and its role in meaning.

OUTLINE:

00:00 In This Episode...

00:35 Introduction

05:55 The Demarcation Problem for Philosophy

34:32 Final Thoughts on What Is Philosophy?

37:47 Non-Existence Questions

1:19:21 Philosophy and Jokes

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of
mathematics at Stanford University. Join him in conversations
with philosophers, scientists, weightlifters, artists, and
everyone in-between.