Axiomatics: Ancient and Contemporary Perspectives
This event is hosted by the Research Training Group Philosophy, Science and the Sciences of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and generously supported by the Chair for Logic and Philosophy of Language of the Department of Philosophy of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.
The Novembertagung is an international graduate conference on the history and philosophy of mathematics and neighbouring fields. It aims to provide an opportunity for graduate students at all levels to present and discuss their research in an informal and safe environment. It also allows young researchers to share experiences, get advice and establish new contacts.
On the theme: While Euclid (c. 3rd century BC) is usually celebrated as the beginning of axiomatic science, many features that are nowadays taken to be essential to axiomatics––such as the explicit statement of inference rules and the requirement of primitive, undefined notions––appear to be alien to ancient mathematics. A major contemporary change in the view on axiomatics was initiated by the adoption of the set-theoretic axiomatic framework as a foundation of mathematics in the first half of the 20th century. Proof theory and model theory subsequently developed as independent research fields and had a wide impact on philosophical thought. On the other hand, some philosophers also argue that the axiomatic view on mathematics may be harmful in that it omits fundamental aspects of mathematical practice and idealizes mathematical reasoning in an unfaithful way.