Philosophy & Mathematics Research Workshop 2: Abstraction, Identity, Dependence & Games

Friday 11 December 2009, 09:00 - 17:00
Music Room, Burwalls Centre For Continuing Education, Bridge Road, Leigh Woods, Bristol BS8 3PD

Speaker(s): Oystein Linnebo (Bristol), Philip Welch (Bristol), Leon Horsten (Bristol) & Crispin Wright, (New York and St Andrews).

IAS Philosophy of Logic and Foundations of Mathematics Research Workshop Series

Workshop 2: Abstraction, Identity, Dependence and Games

Convener: Professor Leon Horsten, Department of Philosophy

Abstraction principles determine identity conditions for kinds of abstract objects (such as numbers, classes, propositions). But associated with each abstraction principle is an ontological dependence relation. This dependence relation explicates the way in which numerical identities and differences between abstracta depend on identities and differences between other abstracta. This gives rise to a notion of groundedness of identities and differences between abstracta that is not yet very well understood. It is expected that the notion of ontological dependence and the associated notion of groundedness can be mathematically described using techniques from the theory of infinite games. And it is hoped that philosophical puzzles about the perceived circularity of certain abstraction principles can be resolved through a precise investigation of the dependence relation.

Key speakers: Oystein Linnebo (Bristol), Philip Welch (Bristol), Leon Horsten (Bristol) Crispin Wright, (New York and St Andrews).

For further details of this meeting, please contact Leon Horsten. For further details of this IAS Resaerch Workshop series please visit our Philosophy of Logic and Foundations of Mathematics: Applying Mathematical Methods to Foundational Problems webpage.