Mathematics and Other Realities Saturday, December 7, 2019 at 2:30pm Past Event Watch the video » The question of what the world in which we live consists of is as old as mankind itself. In philosophical jargon, this is the question of the ontological basis of reality. With the growing success of physics and other sciences, the idea of one fundamental ontology, that of particles and fields, became dominant as a physicalist version of ontology. However, as every hegemonial view creates alternatives, this one does too. This roundtable addresses two of them: (1) the Platonic idea that mathematics is prior to the tangible world of our experience, and (2) the idea of a tiered ontology, where each of its levels can achieve legitimate ontological significance. Both views reject the fundamental ontology of physicalist accounts, but they do so in different ways that will be discussed in this roundtable. For further reading: Relative Onticity – Harald Atmanspacher and Frederick Kronz Participants: Harald Atmanspacher Physicist, The Collegium Helveticum (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) View Papers / Presentations » Harald Atmanspacher, PhD, is a senior scientist and staff member at Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, since 2007. After his PhD in physics at Munich University (1986), he worked as a research scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics at Garching until 1998. Then he served as head of the theory group… read more » Hartry Field Silver Professor, New York University Hartry Field is Silver Professor, and University Professor, at New York University, where he has taught since 1997. Before that he taught at Princeton, University of Southern California, and the CUNY Graduate Center. He is author of Science Without Numbers (1980; expanded edition 2016) and Saving Truth From Paradox, as well as numerous articles in… read more » Markus Gabriel Chair for Epistemology, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, University of Bonn Markus Gabriel, one of the founders of New Realism, was born in 1980 and studied in Heidelberg, Lisbon, and New York. Since 2009 he has held the chair for Epistemology, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy at the University of Bonn, and with this appointment he became Germany’s youngest philosophy professor. He is also the director of… read more » Michael Harris Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University Michael Harris is Professor of Mathematics at Columbia University; before that he held positions at Brandeis University and Université Paris-Diderot. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1977 from Harvard University, under the direction of Barry Mazur. He has organized or co-organized more than 20 conferences, workshops, and special programs in his field of number theory. He… read more » Kristopher McDaniel Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame Kris McDaniel has a B.A. in philosophy from Western Washington University and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After graduating in 2004, he took a position at Syracuse University, and stayed there until the summer of 2019. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame University. His publications include the… read more » Alma Steingart Assistant Professor, History, Columbia University Alma Steingart researches the interplay between politics and mathematical rationalities. Steingart’s second book manuscript, Accountable Democracy: Mathematical Reasoning and Representative Democracy in America, 1920 to Now, examines how mathematical thought and computing technologies have impacted electoral politics in the United States in the twentieth century. Focusing on the census, apportionment, congressional redistricting, ranked voting, and election… read more »
Harald Atmanspacher Physicist, The Collegium Helveticum (ETH Zurich, Switzerland) View Papers / Presentations » Harald Atmanspacher, PhD, is a senior scientist and staff member at Collegium Helveticum, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, since 2007. After his PhD in physics at Munich University (1986), he worked as a research scientist at the Max-Planck-Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics at Garching until 1998. Then he served as head of the theory group… read more »
Hartry Field Silver Professor, New York University Hartry Field is Silver Professor, and University Professor, at New York University, where he has taught since 1997. Before that he taught at Princeton, University of Southern California, and the CUNY Graduate Center. He is author of Science Without Numbers (1980; expanded edition 2016) and Saving Truth From Paradox, as well as numerous articles in… read more »
Markus Gabriel Chair for Epistemology, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy, University of Bonn Markus Gabriel, one of the founders of New Realism, was born in 1980 and studied in Heidelberg, Lisbon, and New York. Since 2009 he has held the chair for Epistemology, Modern and Contemporary Philosophy at the University of Bonn, and with this appointment he became Germany’s youngest philosophy professor. He is also the director of… read more »
Michael Harris Professor of Mathematics, Columbia University Michael Harris is Professor of Mathematics at Columbia University; before that he held positions at Brandeis University and Université Paris-Diderot. He obtained his Ph.D. in 1977 from Harvard University, under the direction of Barry Mazur. He has organized or co-organized more than 20 conferences, workshops, and special programs in his field of number theory. He… read more »
Kristopher McDaniel Professor of Philosophy, University of Notre Dame Kris McDaniel has a B.A. in philosophy from Western Washington University and earned a Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. After graduating in 2004, he took a position at Syracuse University, and stayed there until the summer of 2019. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame University. His publications include the… read more »
Alma Steingart Assistant Professor, History, Columbia University Alma Steingart researches the interplay between politics and mathematical rationalities. Steingart’s second book manuscript, Accountable Democracy: Mathematical Reasoning and Representative Democracy in America, 1920 to Now, examines how mathematical thought and computing technologies have impacted electoral politics in the United States in the twentieth century. Focusing on the census, apportionment, congressional redistricting, ranked voting, and election… read more »