Model Theory: Philosophy, Mathematics and Language (9-12 January 2017)
Idea and Motivation
Model theory is a branch of mathematical logic that studies languages and their interpretations. As such, research in model theory overlaps many areas in philosophy, linguistics, and mathematics. The introduction of model theory in the beginning of the previous century was intertwined with the development of set-theoretic foundations for mathematics; the implications and applications for philosophy and linguistics soon followed. The aim of this conference is to bring together philosophers, linguists and mathematicians for whom model theory is a basic tool-kit. We wish to facilitate knowledge transfer between these disciplines and create a fruitful discussion on the applicability and the foundational role of model theory. To do this, the conference will explore the following research questions: Are model-theoretic tools sufficient for an adequate demarcation of logical from non-logical constants? How does the model-theoretic definition of truth advance our understanding of the semantic paradoxes? How is meaning in natural language represented in models? How can models account for specific linguistic phenomena (e.g., natural language quantifiers)? What are the philosophical and linguistic consequences of a theory's complexity as measured by model-theoretic classification theory?
Program
Day 1 - Monday, January 9, 2017
| Time | Topic |
|---|
| 10:00 - 10:15 |
Welcome |
| 10:15 - 11:30 |
Gila Sher (UCSD): The Foundational Role of Model Theory |
| 11:30 - 11:45 |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 - 13:00 |
Tim Button (Cambridge): Internal Categoricity Results and Internalism in the Philosophy of Mathematics |
| 13:00 - 14:30 |
Lunch Break |
| 14:30 - 15:15 |
Neil Barton (Kurt Gödel Research Center, University of Vienna): Mathematics as the Science of (Different Kinds of) Structures |
| 15:15 - 15:30 |
Coffee Break |
| 15:30 - 16:15 |
Andrei Rodin (Russian Academy of Sciences and Saint-Petersburg State University): Categorical Model Theory and the Semantic View of Theories |
| 16:15 - 16:20 |
Break |
| 16:20 - 17:05 |
Maciej Kłeczek (Bielefeld): The Meaning of a First-Order Formula, Compositionality and Alphabetic Innocence |
| 17:05 - 17:20 |
Coffee Break |
| 17:20 - 18:35 |
Dag Westerståhl (Stockholm): Quantifiers, Models, and Meaning |
Day 2 - Tuesday, January 10, 2017
| Time | Topic |
|---|
| 10:15 - 11:30 |
John T. Baldwin (University of Illinois at Chicago): Philosophical Implications of the Paradigm Shift in Model Theory |
| 11:30 - 11:45 |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 - 13:00 |
Juliette Kennedy (Helsinki): Tarski and "The Mathematical” |
| 13:00 - 14:30 |
Lunch Break |
| 14:30 - 15:15 |
Michał Tomasz Godziszewski (Warsaw): Short Elementary Cuts in Countable Models of Compositional Arithmetical Truth |
| 15:15 - 15:30 |
Coffee Break |
| 15:30 - 16:15 |
Dimitris Tsementzis (Rutgers): Model Theory in the Univalent Foundations and its Philosophical Prospects |
| 16:15 - 16:20 |
Break |
| 16:20 - 17:05 |
Alexander Jones (Bristol): Minimal Adequacy and Semantic Truth |
| 17:05 - 17:20 |
Coffee Break |
| 17:20 - 18:35 |
Georg Schiemer (Vienna / LMU): Geometrical Roots of Model Theory |
Day 3 - Wednesday, January 11, 2017
| Time | Topic |
|---|
| 10:15 - 11:30 |
Yoad Winter (Utrecht): Partial Models and the Symmetry-Collectivity Hypothesis |
| 11:30 - 11:45 |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 - 13:00 |
Hartry Field (NYU): Generalizing Fuzzy Logic and its Model Theory, for Semantic Paradoxes and Vagueness |
| 13:00 |
Lunch Break and Social Activities |
Day 4 - Thursday, January 12, 2017
| Time | Topic |
|---|
| 10:15 - 11:30 |
Menachem Magidor (Hebrew University): Is Independence Relevant? |
| 11:30 - 11:45 |
Coffee Break |
| 11:45 - 13:00 |
Thomas Ede Zimmermann (Frankfurt): Models and Worlds in Linguistic Semantics |
| 13:00 - 14:30 |
Lunch Break |
| 14:30 - 15:15 |
Fabrizio Calzavarini (Turin): The Cognitive Reality of Model-Theoretic Semantics for Natural Language |
| 15:15 - 15:30 |
Coffee Break |
| 15:30 - 16:15 |
Bernhard Nickel (Harvard): Generics and Conservativity |
| 16:15 - 16:20 |
Break |
| 16:20 - 17:05 |
Ali Abasnezhad (LMU): Why Tolerance May Not Be Preserved In Model Theoretic Frameworks |
| 17:05 - 17:20 |
Coffee Break |
| 17:20 - 18:35 |
Volker Halbach (Oxford): Axiomatic Semantics and the Substitutional Theory of Logical Consequence |
Acknowledgement:
The conference is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and organized by the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (LMU Munich).
Photo Credits
Header background: Kent Mercurio, "Nine". Some right reserved (desaturated from original). Source: www.piqs.de.
