Event
Patrick Girard (U Auckland): "The Frog and Mouse Battle: Logic, Politics and Justice"
Friday, September 12, 2025 15:30to17:00
Leacock Building
Room 927, 855 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T7, CA
Montreal Inter-University Workshop on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics
"The Frog and Mouse Battle: Logic, Politics and Justice"
Patrick Girard (U Auckland)
Friday, September 12, 2025
3:30-5:00 PM
Leacock Room 927
听
Abstract:听The 1920s saw the rise of modern logic: Hilbert鈥檚 formalist programme, G枚del鈥檚 theorems, and Brouwer鈥檚 intuitionism offered competing visions for the foundations of mathematics. At the centre was a clash between Hilbert and Brouwer over the law of excluded middle鈥攁 dispute that turned political in the wake of WW I. It ended with Hilbert expelling Brouwer from the Mathematische Annalen, prompting high-profile resignations, including Einstein鈥檚. While the episode had political dimensions, it also reveals a form of epistemic injustice that is logical in nature. Drawing on my recent work in logic, I鈥檒l offer a fresh analysis of the logical injustice at the heart of the coup that ultimately ended Brouwer鈥檚 career.
听
听