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Biography

Leon Horsten is Professor of Philosophy. He joined the University of Bristol in September 2007. Between obtaining his PhD in 1993 and joining the Bristol department he worked at the University of Leuven.

Leon currently serves as the Postgraduate Admission Tutor of the department.

 

Research Interests

Leon’s research is concentrated chiefly on bringing formal methods to bear on philosophical problems. Formal methods are meant to include not only logical methods, but also methods from other areas of mathematics and computer science (graph theory, probability theory, complexity theory, etc.). And while there is no implication that formal methods can on their own solve philosophical problems, it is Leon’s conviction that they can shed light on them. Leon has applied formal methods to problems in the philosophy of science, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of language, epistemology and metaphysics.

 

Contact

9 Woodland Road, room 2.31

Telephone: 0117 928 7828

Email: Leon.Horsten@bristol.ac.uk

Office Hours (1st semester 2008-2009): Thursday, 9-11AM

 

Selected Publications

[The date between square brackets indicates the year in which the publication actually appeared]

 

I. Journal articles

 

Absolute provability

[2005] Remarks on the content and extension of the notion of provability. Logique et Analyse 189-192(2005), p. 15-32.

[2000] Models for the logic of possible proofs. Pacific Philosophical Quarterly 81(2000), p. 49-60.

[1998] In defense of Epistemic Arithmetic. Synthese 116.1 (1998), p. 1-25.

[1997] Provability in principle and controversial constructivistic principles. Journal of Philosophical Logic 26.6 (December 1997), p. 635-660.

[1996] Reflecting in Epistemic Arithmetic. Journal of Symbolic Logic 61.3 (September 1996), p. 788-801.

[1995] On modal-epistemic variants of Shapiro’s system of Epistemic Arithmetic. Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 35.2 (Spring 1994), p. 284-291.

 

The semantic paradoxes and their relatives

[2006] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten, Axiomatizing Kripke’s theory of truth. Journal of Symbolic Logic 71(June 2006), p. 677-712.

[2005] A note concerning the notion of satisfiability. Logique et Analyse 185-188(2004), p. 463-468.

[2001] Leon Horsten and Hannes Leitgeb, No future. Journal of Philosophical Logic 30.3 (June 2001), p. 259-265.

[2000] A Kripkean approach to knowability and truth. Notre Dame Journal of Formal Logic 39.3 (Summer 1998), p. 389-405.

 

Implicatures, conditionals and nonmonotonic logic

[2007] Leon Horsten and Philip Welch, The undecidability of prositional adaptive logic. Synthese 158(2007), p. 41-60.

[2006] Jan Heylen and Leon Horsten, Strict conditionals: a negative result. Philosophical Quarterly 56(2006), p. 536-549.

[2005] Liza Verhoeven and Leon Horsten, On the exclusivity implicature  of ‘Or’ or on the meaning of eating strawberries. Studia Logica 81.1(2005), p. 19-42.

[2005]  On the quantitative scalar Or-implicature. Synthese 146(2005), p. 111-127.

 

Mathematics and mathematical Logic

[2004] Steven Delvaux and Leon Horsten, On best transitive approximations to simple graphs. Acta Informatica, 40.9(September 2004), p. 637-655.

[2000] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten, Two proof-theoretic remarks on EA + ECT. Mathematical Logic Quarterly 46.4 (Summer 2000), p. 461-465.

 

Philosophy of mathematics and computer Science

[2005] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten, Computational structuralism. Philosophia Mathematica 13.2(2005), p. 174-186.

[2001] Platonistic formalism. Erkenntnis 54.2(2001), p. 173-194.

[1995] Leon Horsten and Herman Roelants, The Church-Turing thesis and effective mundane procedures. Minds and Machines 5.1 (February 1995), p. 1-8.

 

Philosophy of science

[2008] Igor Douven and Leon Horsten, Formal methods in the philosophy of science. Studia Logica 89.2(June 2008),  p. 151-162.

[2000] Ladyman, J.; Douven, I.; Horsten, L.; van Fraassen, B. Uma defesa da crítica de van Fraassen à inferência abdutiva: uma réplica a Psillos., Critica, volume 6, no. 21, 2000, p. 63-88. [Portugese translation of: Ladyman, J.; Douven, I.; Horsten, L.; van Fraassen, B. A defense of van Fraassen’s critique of abductive inference: reply to Psillos.]

[1999] Igor Douven and Leon Horsten, Earman on underdetermination and empirical indistinguishability. Erkenntnis 49(1998), p. 303-320.

[1997] Ladyman, J.; Douven, I.; Horsten, L.; van Fraassen, B. A defense of van Fraassen’s critique of abductive inference: reply to Psillos. The Philosophical Quarterly 47 (July 1997), p. 305-321.

 

Philosophy of language

[2009] An argument concerning the unknowable. Analysis, accepted for publication.

[2005] Canonical naming systems. Minds and Machines 15(2005), p. 229-257.

[1992] Scope and rigidity. Communication and Cognition 25.4(1992), p. 353-372.

[1992] Two problems concerning Frege’s distinction between concepts and objects. Logique et Analyse 127-128(1989), p. 267-284.

 

Epistemology and metaphysics

[2009] Impredicative Identity Criteria. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research, accepted for publication.

[2005] Rafael De Clercq and Leon Horsten, Closer. Synthese 146.3(2005), p. 371-393.

[2004] Rafael De Clercq and Leon Horsten, Perceptual indiscriminability: in defence of Wright’s proof. Philosophical Quarterly vol. 54 No. 216 (July 2004), p. 439-444.

 

II. Articles in books

 

[2006] Formalizing Church’s Thesis. In: A. Olszewski, J. Wolenski, R. Janusz (eds.) Church's Thesis After 70 Years. Ontos Mathematical Logic, Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt, p. 253-268.

[2005] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten, The deflationist’s axioms for truth. In: J.C. Beall and B. Armour-Garb (eds) Deflationism and Paradox. Clarendon Press, Oxford, 2005, p. 203-217.

[2004] Dieussaert, K., Ford, M., Horsten, L. Influencing nonmonotonic reasoning by modifier strength manipulation. Proceedings  of the 26th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 2004, p. 315-320.

[2003] The logic of intensional predicates. In: Benedikt Löwe, Wolfgang Malzkorn and Thoralf Räsch (eds) Foundations of the Formal Sciences II: Applications of Mathematical Logic in Philosophy and Linguistics. Trends in Logic: Studia Logica Library Volume 17, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 2003, p. 89-111.

[2002] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten, Contemporary methods for investigating the concept of truth: an introduction. In: V. Halbach & L. Horsten, Principles of Truth, p. 11-35.

[2002] Axiomatic treatments of informal provability as a predicate. In: V. Halbach and L. Horsten, Principles of Truth, p. 203-220.

[2001] On our ability to fix intended structures. In: Ton Derksen (ed.) Moving Ahead: Philosophy of Mind and Realism. Studies in the General Philosophy of Science Vol. 7, Dutch University Press, 2001, p. 121-134.

[2000] Lieven Decock and Leon Horsten, Introduction. In: Lieven Decock & Leon Horsten (eds.) Quine. Naturalised epistemology, Perceptual Knowledge, Ontology. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of Science and the Humanities, volume 70, Rodopi, Amsterdam, 2000, p. 7-12.

[1996] Igor Douven and Leon Horsten, Introduction. In: Igor Douven en Leon Horsten (eds.) Realism in the sciences. Proceedings of the Ernan McMullin symposium Leuven 1995. Louvain Philosophical Studies 10, Leuven University Press, Leuven, 1996, p. 7-12.

[1995] The semantical paradoxes, the neutrality of truth, and the neutrality of the minimalist theory of truth. In Cortois, P., (ed.) The many problems of realism. Studies in General Philosophy of Science 3. Tilburg University Press, Tilburg, 1995, p. 173-187.

[1993] Note on an objection of Lifschitz against Shapiro’s ‘Epistemic Arithmetic’.  in Czermak, J. (ed) Proceedings of the 15th International Wittgenstein-Symposium. Part 1: Philosophy of Mathematics, Verlag Holder-Pichler-Tempsky, Wien, 1993, p. 289-296.

 

III. Books

 

Authored

[2007] Horsten, L.; Douven, I.; Weber, E. Wetenschapsfilosofie. Een grondige inleiding. (“Philosophy of Science. An introduction”) Van Gorcum, Assen, 2007, vii + 238 p.

[2004] Eindig, Oneindig, Meer Dan Oneindig. Grondslagen van de wiskundige wetenschappen. (“Finite, Infinite, More than Infinite. Foundations of the mathematical sciences”) Epsilon Uitgaven, no.56, Utrecht, 2004, xii + 204 p.

[1993] Epistemic and modal-epistemic arithmetic. PhD Dissertation (promotor: Prof. H. Roelants; co-promotor: Prof. C.A. Anderson), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, v + 167 p.

 

Edited

[2004] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten (eds.) Principles of Truth. Second edition. Ontos Verlag, Frankfurt / Lancaster, 2004, 245p.

[2002] Volker Halbach and Leon Horsten (eds.) Principles of Truth. (Deutsche Hochschulschriften: Epistemische Studien; Bd. 1) Hänsel-Hohenhausen, Frankfurt, 2002, 245p

[2000] Lieven Decock and Leon Horsten (eds.) Quine. Naturalised epistemology, Perceptual Knowledge, Ontology. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of Science and the Humanities, volume 70, Rodopi, Amsterdam, 2000, 225p.

[1996] Igor Douven and Leon Horsten (eds.) Realism in the sciences. Proceedings of the Ernan McMullin symposium Leuven 1995. Louvain Philosophical Studies 10, Leuven University Press, Leuven, 1996, 216 p.

 

IV. Contributions to reference works

 

[2007] Philosophy of Mathematics. Entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

[2005] Leon Horsten and Erik Weber, INUS Conditions. In: Brian S. Everitt & David C. Howell (eds) Encyclopedia of Statistics in Behavioral Science. Volume 2. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, Chichester, 2005, p. 955-958.