Episode 46 - Francesco Guala

On Episode 46, Nick chats with Francesco Guala, Professor of Political Economy in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Milan, about how he came to study the philosophy of experimental economics, how philosophers of science can open the door to successful collaborations with scientists (hint: don’t preach), his latest book, “Understanding Institutions: The Science and Philosophy of Living Together,” and the question, “why should there be philosophy today?”

Timestamps:

0:15 Hello and welcome / 1:36 Francesco on his summer travels and preparing for the fall term / 4:06 Francesco’s early life growing up in Alessandria, Italy / 11:30 How a non-standard philosophy of science course on the political implications of science captured Francesco’s attention / 14:40 Francesco’s transition to studying philosophy of economics at Kings College, and the London School of Economics / 24:24 Early questions in the philosophy of economics / 28:20 Francesco’s dissertation and his early approach to doing philosophy of science / 37:57 The job search / 42:00 Designing a new philosophy program at the University of Exeter / 46:08 Writing “The Methodology of Experimental Economics” / 50:08 How Francesco opens the door to successful collaborations with scientists (Hint: don’t preach) / 53:57 Francesco finds his way back to Italy / 56:27 Interesting disagreements / 1:02:00 Francesco’s recent work, “Understanding Institutions: The Science and Philosophy of Living Together” / 1:14:28 Francesco’s upcoming projects in social ontology/ 1:17:04 The greatest challenge facing philosophy of science today