With Øystein Linnebo (Birkbeck, University of London).

Generally, when people know something, it is possible to explain how their beliefs are responsive to what these beliefs are about. For instance, if people know that the food in Peru is spicy, they do so because they have been to Peru or have received information from others who has been there. What about mathematical knowledge? Mathematics is naturally taken to be concerned with abstract objects such as numbers, sets, and functions. But how can our beliefs be responsive to an abstract reality of this sort, which we cannot visit, interact with, or observe? My talk discusses how some philosophers (such as Plato, Hume, Kant, and Frege) have grappled with this question and how it often came to play a central role in their philosophies. I also discuss some contemporary views and ideas that are relevant to the question.

Øystein Linnebo is a philosopher of mathematics at Birkbeck College, University of London. His main interests are in philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of logic, Frege and metaphysics. He earned his MA in mathematics at UiO (1995) and his PhD in philosophy at Harvard (2002). Before arriving at Birkbeck he had held positions at Bristol, Oxford and UiO. Øystein is currently leading a European Research Council project on logical paradoxes and the foundations of semantics and set theory.

Room: Undervisningsrom 3