Formal Philosophy

6/2: Peter Klecha

Matt Teichman — Sun, 31 May 2009 05:43:25 +0000

“Modality and Context-Dependence in Futures”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 102 (campus map)

5/26: Mike O’Donnell

Matt Teichman — Wed, 20 May 2009 05:15:13 +0000

Due to an unexpected emergency, THIS TALK HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Hopefully, Mike O’Donnell will be able to join us at a later date to give his talk.

“The Sources of Certainty in Computation and Formal Systems”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 102 (campus map)

A copy of the paper may be downloaded here.
A copy of the PowerPoint slides may be downloaded here.

The following is optional background reading:

Computation, Information, and Description, Michael J. O’Donnell
What the Tortoise Said to Achilles, Lewis Carroll
On the Computable Numbers, Alan Turing
On The Infinite, David Hilbert
The Foundations of Mathematics, David Hilbert
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics, Richard W. Hamming
The Unreasonable Effectiveness of
Mathematics in the Natural Sciences, Eugene Wigner

5/19: Brandon Fogel

Matt Teichman — Fri, 15 May 2009 04:10:32 +0000

“The Geometry of Bell’s Theorem”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 102 (campus map)

The following is optional background reading:
Bell’s Theorem, Abner Shimony

5/12: Aidan Gray

Matt Teichman — Sun, 10 May 2009 04:09:59 +0000

“What do Alfreds Have in Common?”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 104 (campus map)

The paper may be downloaded here.

5/5: Sean Ebels-Duggan

Matt Teichman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:25:32 +0000

“Why is Arithmetic Incomplete?”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 102 (campus map)

The following is optional background reading:
On the Incompleteness Theorems, Henryk Kotlarski

4/20: Martin Gustafsson

Matt Teichman — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:59:17 +0000

“Wittgenstein and ‘Tonk’”

4:30-6:30 pm, Wieboldt 111 (campus map)

A copy of Martin Gustafsson’s paper may be downloaded here.

The following are recommended background readings:
A Runabout Inference Ticket, Arthur Prior
Tonk, Plonk, and Plink, Nuel Belnap
Roundabout the Runabout Inference Ticket, J. T. Stevenson

3/10: Nat Hansen

Matt Teichman — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:11:06 +0000

“Color Adjectives and Radical Contextualism”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 101 (campus map)

2/27: Antonio Montalbán

Matt Teichman — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 03:06:23 +0000

“Reverse Mathematics”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 101 (campus map)

2/10: Katherine Brading

Matt Teichman — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 01:15:27 +0000

“The ‘Newman problem’ in the context of structural realism”

4:30-6:30 pm, Cobb 101 (campus map)

The following are optional background readings:
Structural Realism, James Ladyman
Ramseyfication and Theoretical Content, Joseph Melia and Juha Saatsi

1/27: William Wimsatt

Matt Teichman — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 06:57:56 +0000

“False Models as Means to Truer Theories”

6-8 pm, Cobb 101 (campus map)

The following are recommended background readings:
Re-Engineering Philosophy for Limited Beings: Chapter Six
18 Functions for False Models
Golden Generalities and Co-Opted Anomalies – Part 1
Golden Generalities and Co-Opted Anomalies – Part 2