Why do science and philosophy so often stand apart - and what happens when they come back together?
In this thought-provoking conversation, Dr Tevin Naidu brings together Prof Lauren Ross (philosopher of science, UC Irvine) and Prof Megan Peters (computational neuroscientist, UC Irvine) to explore why modern science still depends on philosophical insight - and why philosophy needs to engage with empirical rigor.
They discuss:
• How philosophy clarifies the conceptual foundations of science
• What counts as an explanation in neuroscience and AI
• The limits of reductionism and the myth of the “brain as computer”
• Metacognition, uncertainty, and consciousness from a cognitive science perspective
• How to build a philosophically informed neuroscience
This dialogue bridges disciplines that should never have split - and reveals why understanding the mind, meaning, and reality requires both empirical and conceptual insight.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Introduction: Why science and philosophy need each other
01:45 - Science vs. Philosophy: debunking the "anything goes" myth
06:22 - What scientists misunderstand about philosophy
09:38 - Philosophy and science as synergistic collaborators
34:40 - Brains as model-builders: uncertainty, inference, and subjective experience
37:47 - How noise & variability reveal links between brain models and experience
39:39 - What counts as an explanation? Descriptions vs. why-questions in science
41:19 - Defining the explanatory target in consciousness research (contrast & clarity)
44:27 - Types of explanation: causal, mechanistic, computational, and mathematical
47:28 - Levels of analysis: Marr, models, and matching methods to questions
57:23 - The microprocessor/Mario example: what "perfect access" still fails to explain
58:50 - Groundbreaking work: metacognition, psychophysics & linking model knobs to experience
59:59 - Processing "under the hood": what the brain does without subjective access
01:00:01 - Vision science & the limits of introspection: implications for consciousness studies
01:26:39 - Is consciousness an epiphenomenon? Debate and conceptual framing
01:28:24 - Precision of questions: why asking the right question matters for explanation
01:29:54 - Plurality of explanatory targets: accepting piecemeal explanations for complex systems
01:42:22 - Community & interdisciplinarity: building networks that bridge science and philosophy
01:44:32 - Future horizons for consciousness research: what philosophy must confront next
02:06:36 - Final reflections: how a philosophically informed neuroscience could reshape the field
02:08:05 - Conclusion
EPISODE LINKS:
- Megan's Website: https://www.meganakpeters.org/
- Megan's Lab: https://www.cnclab.io/
- Neuromatch: https://neuromatch.io/
- Megan's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-peters-58a86133/
- Megan's X: https://twitter.com/meganakpeters
- Reality monitoring decision policies and the slowness of consciousness: https://osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/fu2jm_v1
- Could a Neuroscientist Understand a Microprocessor: https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005268
- Neuromatch’s Consciousness Day in the neuroAI course: https://neuroai.neuromatch.io/tutorials/W2D5_Mysteries/chapter_title.html
- Lauren's Website: https://sites.socsci.uci.edu/~rossl/
- Lauren's X: https://twitter.com/proflaurenross
- Lauren's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-ross-48522843/
- Explanation in Biology: https://www.cambridge.org/core/elements/explanation-in-biology/743A8C5A6E709B1E348FCD4D005C67B3
- Causation in Neuroscience: Keeping Mechanism meaningful: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41583-023-00778-7
- Scientific Explanation: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-explanation/
CONNECT:
- Website: https://mindbodysolution.org
- YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MindBodySolution
- Podcast: https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/mindbodysolution
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/drtevinnaidu
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/drtevinnaidu
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/drtevinnaidu
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/drtevinnaidu
- Website: https://tevinnaidu.com
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#LaurenRoss #MeganPeters #Science #Philosophy #Consciousness
