Foundations Interest Group
Time: Thursdays, 4:00-5:30pm
Place: 731 Heller Hall and online
The foundation's interest group (FIG) reads and discusses works of mutual interest in the philosophy and foundations of mathematics and the philosophy of logic. We select readings for a variety of reasons: to keep up on the most exciting developments in the field, to help participants scrutinize literature relevant to research, to provide feedback on works in progress being written by FIG, to revisit classic articles in the literature, and sometimes just to have fun discussing a topic related to the foundations of mathematics and the philosophy of logic. For more information, please contact Roy T. Cook ([email protected]) or Cat Saint Croix ([email protected]).
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Fall 2026
This semester, FIG will read TBC.
Dates TBC
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Dates TBC
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Our meetings are informal and some participants need to arrive late or leave early because of scheduling conflicts. All faculty and graduate students from the University of Minnesota and area colleges and universities are welcome to attend whenever they would like (without invitation) and without giving advanced notice. Undergraduates are included by invitation. If you know of an undergraduate who is well-suited and possibly interested, please contact Roy T. Cook ([email protected]) or Cat Saint Croix ([email protected]) so an invitation can be extended.
Spring 2026
This semester, FIG will continue reading:
Button, T., & Walsh, S. (2018). Philosophy and model theory (First edition.). Oxford University Press.
January 29: Chapter 10
February 5: Chapter 11
February 12: Chapter 12
February 19: No meeting
February 26: Chapter 13
March 6: Sean Ebels Duggan will be joining in person this day to lead the discussion. We'll be reading: Avron, Arnon (2025). "What Numbers Really Cannot Be and What They Plausibly Are." Philosophia Mathematica 33 (3):377-401. PDF.
March 13: No meeting
March 19: Ebels-Duggan, S. C. (2022). On Number-Set Identity: A Study, Philosophia Mathematica, Volume 30, Issue 2, Pages 223–244. PDF.
Section 4 of the below is particularly pertinent to the above reading:
Avron, A., Grabmayr, B. (2023). Breaking the Tie: Benacerraf’s Identification Argument Revisited, Philosophia Mathematica, Volume 31, Issue 1, Pages 81–103. PDF.
March 26: Chapter 14 and introduction to Part C
April 2: Chapter 15
April 9: Chapter 16
April 16: Chapter 17
April 23: Chapter 18
April 30: Discuss ideas for what FIG should do next year (or in the near term) and discuss what else we have been reading or working on within FIG's subject matter, broadly but not too broadly construed.
*Douglas Marshall will be visiting.
Autumn 2025
This semester, FIG will be reading:
Button, T., & Walsh, S. (2018). Philosophy and model theory (First edition.). Oxford University Press.
Available in the UMN library.
September 4: Welcome and introductions
September 11: Chapter 1
September 18: Chapter 2
September 25: Chapter 3
October 2: Chapter 4
October 9: Chapter 5
October 16: No meeting.
October 23: Chapter 6
October 30: No meeting.
November 6: Chapter 7
November 13: No meeting.
November 20: Chapter 8
November 27: No meeting
December 4: Chapter 9
December 11: No meeting.
December 18: Chapter 10
Spring 2025
This semester FIG will read "Reasoning in Quantum Theory: Sharp and Unsharp Quantum Logics" available from UMN libraries.
M. Chiara, R. Giuntini, R. Greechie. 2024. Reasoning in Quantum Theory: Sharp and Unsharp Quantum Logics. Springer Dordrecht.
January 23: Introductions and organization
January 30: “Introduction” in Reasoning and Quantum Theory (Dalla Chiara, Giuntini, Greechie)
February 6: “Chapter 1” in Reasoning and Quantum Theory (Dalla Chiara, Giuntini, Greechie)
February 13: “Chapter 2” in Reasoning and Quantum Theory (Dalla Chiara, Giuntini, Greechie)
February 20: No meeting
February 27: “Chapter 3” in Reasoning and Quantum Theory (Dalla Chiara, Giuntini, Greechie)
March 6: “Introduction” to Part II of Reasoning in Quantum Theory, pp. 149-154.
March 13: No Meeting
March 20: No Meeting
March 27: “Chapter 8” in Reasoning and Quantum Theory (Dalla Chiara, Giuntini, Greechie)
April 3: Reading postponed to next week
April 10: “Chapter 9” in Reasoning and Quantum Theory (Dalla Chiara, Giuntini, Greechie)
April 17: This week we will primarily be talking about "Chapters 11-12" of Reasoning in Quantum Theory. To the extent there is interest, we can also talk about "Chapter 10." Please read what you can/want.
April 24: "Chapters 13 and 14" of Reasoning in Quantum Theory. (This is a change of plans from what we discussed at the end of last meeting.) As usual, please just read what you have time for.
May 1: Smets, Sonja (2006). From intuitionistic logic to dynamic operational quantum logic. Poznan Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities 91 (1):257-275. PDF.
Fall 2024
This semester FIG will continue reading chapters in the upcoming Minnesota Studies volume Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic
September 12: Yap, A and Cook R.T. Forthcoming Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic. Minnesota Studies on Philosophy of Science, vol 25. Chapter 8. Social Spheres: Logic, Ranking, and Subordination, Gillian Russell• Restricting Logical Tolerance Derek Anderson
September 19: Yap, A and Cook R.T. Forthcoming Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic. Minnesota Studies on Philosophy of Science, vol 25. Chapter 9. The Logical Syntax of Prejudice: Oppression and the Constitutive a Priori Audrey Yap
September 26: Yap, A and Cook R.T. Forthcoming Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic. Minnesota Studies on Philosophy of Science, vol 25. Chapter 10. Values in Logic Samara Burns
October 3: Yap, A and Cook R.T. Forthcoming Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic. Minnesota Studies on Philosophy of Science, vol 25. Chapter 11. Teaching Logic from a Feminist Point of View Nastassja Pugliese and Gisele Secco
October 10: Yap, A and Cook R.T. Forthcoming Feminist Philosophy and Formal Logic. Minnesota Studies on Philosophy of Science, vol 25. Chapter 12. Sympathetic Interpretation: Teaching Argument Reconstruction and Repair Catherine Hundleby
October 17: No Meeting
October 24: Work-in-progress (WIP) - Corey Dethier, "Formal Maps, Or, the cartographic object is not the territory"
October 31: No Meeting
November 7: WIP - Cat Saint-Croix - "Why Model?"
November 14:
November 21: WIP - Presentation by Jerry Chandler, "Toward a Metaphysics for the Symbolic Logics"
November 28: No meeting Thanksgiving break
December 5: WIP - Douglas Marshall, "Purity of Methods, Multiple Determination, and Finite Geometry"
December 12: