Fall 2022

Thursdays at 14–16

Nov 3: Øystein Linnebo (University of Oslo)

TITLE: Abstraction and Grounding: between Aristotle and Plato

ABSTRACT: Are there “thin objects” whose existence does not make any substantial demand on the world? In my Thin Objects (OUP 2018) I defend an affirmative answer based on a Fregean form of abstraction. This talk connects two central aspects of the resulting view with the notion of metaphysical grounding. First, every truth about some thin objects is grounded in a truth that does not involve these objects. Second, the notorious “bad company problem” for abstractionism can be solved by insisting that every truth about the desired abstracta be grounded in a truth that is solely about a prior and independently available ontology. I explain how the resulting view is a form of “soft platonism” with some broadly Aristotelian features.

VENUE: Main Building (Unioninkatu 34, Helsinki), U3039. The room is accessible.

Dec 1: Juhani Yli-Vakkuri (Australian Catholic University)

TITLE: The Formalization of Science

ABSTRACT: In Logical Foundations (in preparation), Zachary Goodsell and I propose a new system of logic, LF, and we argue that it is better suited than any of the other known foundational formal systems (of logic or of set theory) for one particular task: the formalization of science. At one time it would not have been unusual to think that that task was the task of philosophy (in the analytic tradition), but that was a long time ago. In this non-technical talk, I will introduce and motivate the project of the formalization of science and argue that it is of great importance to science.

VENUE: Main Building (Unioninkatu 34, Helsinki), U3029. The room is accessible.

The event stream can be viewed here: https://video.helsinki.fi/unitube/live-stream.html?room=l53