Foundations Interest Group

Meeting time: Thursdays, 4:00-5:30pm
Meeting place: 737 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 (cookx432@umn.edu) or Cat Saint Croix (csaintx@umn.edu).

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 (cookx432@umn.edu) or Cat Saint Croix (csaintx@umn.edu) so an invitation can be extended.

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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" (pdf)

October 31:  No Meeting

November 7: WIP - Cat Saint-Croix - "Why Model?" (pdf)

November 14:

November 21: 

November 28: No meeting Thanksgiving break

December 5: WIP - Douglas Marshall, "Purity of Methods, Multiple Determination, and Finite Geometry"

December 12: 

Previous FIG topics