Episode 96: Charles Pence

On Episode 96, Nick chats with Charles Pence, Chargé de cours at the Université catholique de Louvain in Brussels, about his work on the causal structure of natural selection, digital humanities and “taking the pulse” of what biologists are up to, and his book, The Rise of Chance in Evolutionary Theory, which takes a historical look at the development of evolutionary theory and its extensive reliance on a wide array of concepts of chance. Timestamps: (0:00) - Introduction (1:53) - Life in Brussels and at Université catholique de Louvain (8:51) - Charles’s life growing up and getting into philosophy (17:30) - The shift from the sciences to philosophy (21:01) - How Charles transitioned from philosophy of physics to philosophy of biology (25:27) - The importance of the history and philosophy of science (29:29) - What were the main projects driving Charles towards philosophy of biology (35:23) - What of Charles’s current works are best representative of him and his thinking (39:26) - Side projects including digital humanities and gene regulation (49:14) - The greatest challenge that philosophy of science faces today