What are you going to work with at IFIKK?
I am part of Øystein Linnebo’s ERC Project C-FORS: Construction in the Formal Sciences. This project is broadly about how objects figure in formal sciences such as mathematics, linguistics, logic, and so on, asking what is the metaphysical standing of such objects, and how do we represent and reason about them? I will be primarily focused on constructive approaches to ontology in mathematics and logic, such as intuitionism and predicativism. What notions of construction underwrite these different views of mathematics? How do they relate to each other and to similar ideas connected with potentialist and postulationist views of mathematics? Does the ontology of mathematics have implications for the correct logic of mathematics? And what general lessons can we learn about constructive approaches to ontology from the mathematical examples?
Can you tell us a bit about your research interests?
I have active research interests in logic, philosophy of mathematics, and epistemology. In philosophy of mathematics I am mostly studying constructivism these days. But I am also interested in how mathematical beliefs are/can be justified and how the justification of mathematical ideas is related to their discovery. In logic I have dabbled in modal logic, but mostly focused on natural deduction and sequent calculi, asking how the structure of a proof relates to the strength and relevance of the argument proved. In epistemology I have mostly written on matters stemming from the epistemology of mathematics, but I am motivated by broad questions about standards of rationality and of how to respond to evidence, and how these standards relate to non-epistemic aspects of our cognitive and practical lives.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I enjoy reading---especially twentieth century American fiction, but I try to cast a wide net. I also like to hike, swim, and enjoy the outdoors.