Modal Structuralism

Note the reschedule!

For this session we will look at Modality and Structuralism, section 15 of: Charles Parsons, Mathematical Thought and Its Objects, 1st ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2007). As the title suggests, Parson explores an acocunt of structuralism trough modal notions; the role of necessity and possibility in mathematical discourse, and the ontology of mathematical objects.

Does mathematics require an ontological commitment to abstract objects or can modal formulations capture mathematical truth without such commitments? Can modal logic provide a foundation for mathematical necessity? How does this modal structuralism compare to eliminative forms of structuralism?

Join us to investigate and discuss this peculiar crosser of modal reasoning, provability and foundations of mathematics.