CfA: Foundations of Mathematical Structuralism, 12-14 October 2016, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy
12-14 October 2016, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU Munich
In
the course of the last century, different general frameworks for the
foundations of mathematics have been investigated. The orthodox approach
to foundations interprets mathematics in the universe of sets. More
recently, however, there have been other developments that call into
question the whole method of set theory as a foundational discipline.
Category-theoretic methods that focus on structural relationships and
structure-preserving mappings between mathematical objects, rather than
on the objects themselves, have been in play since the early 1960s. But
in the last few years they have found clarification and expression
through the development of homotopy type theory. This represents a
fascinating development in the philosophy of mathematics, where
category-theoretic structural methods are combined with type theory to
produce a foundation that accounts for the structural aspects of
mathematical practice. We are now at a point where the notion of
mathematical structure can be elucidated more clearly and its role in
the foundations of mathematics can be explored more fruitfully.
The
main objective of the conference is to reevaluate the different
perspectives on mathematical structuralism in the foundations of
mathematics and in mathematical practice. To do this, the conference
will explore the following research questions: Does mathematical
structuralism offer a philosophically viable foundation for modern
mathematics? What role do key notions such as structural abstraction,
invariance, dependence, or structural identity play in the different
theories of structuralism? To what degree does mathematical
structuralism as a philosophical position describe actual mathematical
practice? Does category theory or homotopy type theory provide a fully
structural account for mathematics?
Confirmed Speakers:
Prof. Steve Awodey (Carnegie Mellon University)
Dr. Jessica Carter (University of Southern Denmark)
Prof. Gerhard Heinzmann (Université de Lorraine)
Prof. Geoffrey Hellman (University of Minnesota)
Prof. James Ladyman (University of Bristol)
Prof. Elaine Landry (UC Davis)
Prof. Hannes Leitgeb (LMU Munich)
Dr. Mary Leng (University of York)
Prof. Øystein Linnebo (University of Oslo)
Prof. Erich Reck (UC Riverside)
Call for Abstracts:
We
invite the submission of abstracts on topics related to mathematical
structuralism for presentation at the conference. Abstracts should
include a title, a brief abstract (up to 100 words), and a full abstract
(up to 1000 words), blinded for peer review. Authors should send their
abstracts (in pdf format), together with their name, institutional
affiliation and current position to mathematicalstructuralism20
Dates and Deadlines:
Submission deadline: 30 June, 2016
Notification of acceptance: 31 July, 2016
Registration deadline: 1 October, 2016
Conference: 12 - 14 October, 2016
For further details on the conference, please visit: http://www.
Organizers: Georg Schiemer (MCMP & University of Vienna), John Wigglesworth (MCMP)