20-23 Sep 2013
Cambridge, England
2nd Call for Papers. FotFS VIII: History and Philosophy of Infinity 20-23 September 2013 Cambridge, England Submission website: https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=fotfs8 Submission deadline: 31 May 2013. Funding application deadline: 31 May 2013. Notification: 20 June 2013. Accommodation booking deadline: 15 July 2013. Registration deadline: 31 August 2013. Conference: 20-23 September 2013. The Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science (DLMPS/IUHPS) and the Analysis Trust are generously offering travel grants for junior researchers to attend FotFS VIII. See below for more details. The application deadline is 31 May 2013. SPEAKERS: Haim Gaifman TBA Catherine Goldstein This side of infinity Christian Greiffenhagen Paradoxes of Infinity: Empirical Studies and Wittgenstein's standpoint Luca Incurvati Maddy, infinity, and the multiverse Matthew Inglis Reading about Cardinality Charles Parsons Infinity and a critical view of logic Michael Potter Making sense of potential infinity Adriane Rini Aristotle on Thomson's lamp Christian Tapp Infinity in Aquinas Pessia Tsamir Teaching and learning about infinity: & Dina Tirosh The case of infinite sets Jean Paul Van Bendegem A true(r) history of strict finitism ***Conference Theme.*** The concept of infinity has fascinated philosophers and mathematicians for many centuries: e.g., the distinction between the potential and actual infinite appears in Aristotle's Physics (in his treatment of the paradoxes of Zeno) and the notion was implied in the attempts to sharpen the method of approximation (starting as early as Archimedes and running through the middle ages and into the nineteenth century). Modern mathematics opened the doors to the wealth of the realm of the infinities by means of the set-theoretic foundations of mathematics. Any philosophical interaction with concepts of infinite must have at least two aspects: first, an inclusive examination of the various branches and applications, across the various periods; but second, it must proceed in the critical light of mathematical results, including results from meta-mathematics. The conference History & Philosophy of Infinity will emphasize philosophical, empirical and historical approaches. In the following, we give brief descriptions of these approaches with a number of questions that we consider relevant for the conference: In the philosophical approach, we shall link questions about the concept of infinity to other parts of the philosophical discourse, such as ontology and epistemology and other important aspects of philosophy of mathematics. Which types of infinity exist? What does it mean to make such a statement? How do we reason about infinite entities? How do the mathematical developments shed light on the philosophical issues and how do the philosophical issues influence the mathematical developments? Various empirical sciences deal with the way we as finite human beings access mathematical objects or concepts. Research from mathematics education, sociology of mathematics and cognitive science is highly relevant here. How do we represent infinite objects by finite means? How are infinite objects represented in the human mind? How much is our interaction with infinite concepts formed by the research community? How do we teach the manipulation of infinite objects or processes? Infinity was an important concept in philosophy and theology from the ancient Greeks through the middle ages into the modern period. How did the concepts of infinity evolve? How did questions get sharpened and certain aspects got distinguished in the philosophical debate? Did important aspects get lost along the way? ***Submission.*** The Scientific Committee of FotFS VIII is cordially inviting all researchers to submit proposals for presentations covering either historical or philosophical aspects of infinity, or dealing with empirical investigations of infinity in relation to the historical and philosophical aspects. The submission deadline is 31 May 2013. Please submit the proposals for presentations via our EasyChair submission site at https://www.easychair.org/conferences/?conf=fotfs8. A proposal should consist of a descriptive title and an abstract of 200 to 500 words. Do not submit a full paper and mark the "abstract only" checkbox of EasyChair for submission. Please make sure in your abstract how your presentation will relate to the theme of the conference. After the conference, we will publish a post-proceedings special issue of the journal Synthese. All authors of papers presented at FotFS VIII will be encouraged to submit a full version of their presentation. All submissions will be refereed according to the high standards of the journal. The deadline for submission of these papers will be in December 2013. ***Scientific Committee.*** Brendan Larvor (Hatfield, U.K.), Benedikt Löwe (chair; Amsterdam, The Netherlands & Hamburg, Germany), Peter Koellner (Cambridge MA, U.S.A.), Dirk Schlimm (Montreal, Canada). ***Grants*** DLMPS/IUHPS grants for junior researchers. The Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union for History and Philosophy of Science (DLMPS/IUHPS) is offering three DLMPS/IUHPS grants for junior researchers to cover their registration fees. Postgraduate students (both Master's and PhD students) and recent doctoral graduates are eligible to apply. The grant will cover the full registration fee (including conference dinner), but no accommodation or travel costs. Priority is given to applicants who are presenting a paper at FotFS VIII. In order to apply, please submit an application including a short CV (1 page) to b.loewe(at)uva.nl before the deadline of 31 May 2013. Analysis Trust grants for junior researchers. The Analysis Trust is offering two Analysis Trust grants for junior researchers to partially cover registration fees and accommodation. Postgraduate students (both Master's and PhD students) and recent doctoral graduates are eligible to apply. The grant will cover 50% of full registration fee plus accommodation, but no travel costs (up to a maximum of £ 375 each). Researchers affiliated to Cambridge University are not eligible to apply. Priority is given to applicants who are presenting a paper at FotFS VIII. In order to apply, please submit an application including a short CV (1 page) to b.loewe(at)uva.nl before the deadline of 31 May 2013. -- FotFS VIII is sponsored by the ESF network INFTY: New frontiers of infinity, the Division for Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science of the International Union for History and Philosophy of Science (DLMPS/IUHPS) and the Analysis Trust.