In this episode, Andrea Hiott talks with Michela Massimi, a philosopher renowned for her book 'Perspectival Realism.' As part of Andrea’s work in moving ‘beyond dichotomy’ or past traditional divides, this episode is a philosophical look at how to hold together the fact that we live in a real world but the reality we share can often appear very different to us depending on our past experience.
Together, Andrea and Michela look at what this might mean, discussing the relevance of perspectivism in the philosophy of science and its implications for understanding scientific models, realism, and pluralism. The conversation explores how different perspectives can coexist in scientific inquiry without leading to relativism, and the role of local and experiential knowledge in contributing to scientific understanding. Massimi also shares her personal journey into philosophy and science, the influence of community and historical context on her work, and inspirations of both physics and literature.
Read the book here for free.
More of Michela’s publications can be found here.
00:00 Introduction to Perspectival Realism
01:02 Exploring Perspectival Realism in Philosophy of Science
02:27 Quotes from Borges and Calvino
06:43 Michela Massimi's Journey into Philosophy
11:04 Combining Physics and Philosophy
17:39 Pluralism and Realism in Science
20:01 Situated Knowledge and Modeling Reality
33:33 The Role of Models in Scientific Inference
34:42 Stable Events and Realism in Science
37:29 Natural Kinds and Anti-Essentialism
41:57 Metaphysics of Reality: Stable Events, Robust Phenomena, and Natural Kinds
50:32 The Importance of Historical and Multicultural Perspectives in Science
57:14 Philosophy's Role in Addressing Structural and Systemic Issues
01:06:59 Personal Reflections and the Interconnectedness of Life and Philosophy
Perspectival Realism, the book we discuss.
“Memory is redundant. It repeats signs so that the city can begin to exist.” Calvino
“The travelers path changes, according to the route he has followed.” Calvino
“You take delight, not in a city seven or 70 wonders, but in the answer, it gives to a question of yours.” Calvino
“I thought of a labyrinth of labyrinths of one sinuous spreading labyrinth that would encompass the past and the future, and make room for the stars, too.” Borges
The full transcript is here.
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