SSFP2025: The Syntax and Semantics of Formalisations in Philosophy

Idea and Motivation

The Syntax and Semantics of Formalisations in Philosophy is a two-day workshop taking place on 27–28 June 2025 at the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy (MCMP), LMU Munich.
The aim of the workshop is to reflect critically on how formal tools shape philosophical problems and practices. The presentations will cover technical, methodological, epistemological, historical, and even political dimensions of formalisation.

The program is structured around the following four thematic sessions:

Explication, Formalisation, and Pluralism: This session explores how formalisation contributes to conceptual pluralism and methodological diversity. It considers the purposes of explication and how different formal frameworks can offer complementary insights.

Formalisation, Politics, and Social Models: This session examines the normative dimensions of formal methods, including their role in social and political philosophy. It addresses questions about idealisation, modelling practices, and the ethical implications of formal analysis.

The Boundaries of Formalisation: This session reflects on the limits of formal methods in philosophy, investigating which kinds of problems can be formalised, and how historical, psychological, and contextual factors challenge purely formal approaches.

Formalisation and Foundational Issues: This session focuses on technical and conceptual questions at the heart of formalisation, including how foundational assumptions shape formal representations, and how these, in turn, influence philosophical interpretation.

In addition to these sessions, there will be a poster session presenting works by PhD researchers from the MCMP that engage with the central themes of the workshop.
By bringing together diverse approaches and fostering interdisciplinary exchange, the workshop aims to advance our understanding of formal representations and their philosophical relevance.

 

Keynote Speakers

• Anna Brożek (University of Warsaw)
• Georg Brun (University of Bern)
• Catarina Dutilh Novaes (VU Universtity Amsterdam)
• Sven Ove Hansson (Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm)

Program

Book of abstracts: https://bit.ly/SSFP-2025-book

	Friday, 27 June
09:00-09:30	Registration
09:00-10:30	Keynote: Georg Brun - Explication as a basis of conceptual pluralism
10:30-10:45	Break
10:45-11:30	Carolin Antos - Formalization of concepts and pluralism
11:30-12:15	Perceval Pillon - Utility criteria for legitimate philosophical formalisation
12:15-14:15	Lunch Break (join us at Atzinger)
14:15-15:00	Patricia Marino - Formal models in philosophy: What-if inferences, evaluating social interventions, and the problem of chameleons
15:00-15:45	Luis F. Bartolo Alegre – Politics and the formal sciences: Implications and challenges
15:45-16:00	Break
16:00-16:30	Poster Session
16:30-16:45	Break
16:45-17:45	Keynote: Catarina Dutilh Novaes - The politics of formalization: Liberation or oppression?
19:00-21:00	Conference Dinner (Arabesk)
	Saturday, 28 June
09:00-10:00	Keynote: Anna Brożek - The scope and limitations of formal methods in philosophy
10:00-10:15	Break
10:15-10:45	Poster Session
10:45-11:00	Break
11:00-11:45	Bobby Vos - The spectre of pragmatics, or on the limits of formal philosophy of science
11:45-12:30	Lassi Saario-Ramsay - Formalizing Medieval theories of consequence: The case of conceptual form
12:30-14:30	Lunch Break (join us at Pizzeria bei Mario)
14:30-15.15	Ludovica Conti - Parameters and schematic impredicativity
15:15-16:00	Michal Hladky - End of logical positivism? #toosoon
16:00-16:15	Break
16:15-17:15	Keynote: Sven Ove Hansson - Foundations of formalization
17:15-17:45	Closing Remarks

  Organizers