Forthcoming Research Seminars and Lectures

25th October 2012: Juha Saatsi (Leeds) - Naturalism and the Benacerraf-Field challenge to Platonism

(10 July 2012)

Weekly Research Seminar

This seminar will be held in room 005, 48/49 Old Elvet, Durham.  Refreshments will be served from 11am with the talk commencing  at 11.30am.

Title: Naturalism and the Benacerraf-Field challenge to Platonism

Abstract:

Mathematical platonism faces a familiar epistemological puzzle: how could we ever know of the existence of abstract, causally impotent mathematical abstracta? The best known formulation of the puzzle---originally due to Benacerraf, and significantly refined by Field---arguably begs some critical questions. I aim to give a novel and more robust formulation of the Benacerraf-Field challenge in a naturalistic setting.