The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on March 25th from 4:15-6:15 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Dan Marshall (Lingnan).

Title: A moderate theory of overall resemblance

Abstract: This paper defends the moderate theory of overall resemblance stated by: A) y is at least as similar to x as z is iff: i) every resemblance property shared by x and z is also shared by x and y, and ii) for any resemblance family of properties F, y is at least as similar to x as z is with respect to F. In this account, a resemblance property is a property that corresponds to a genuine respect in which two things can resemble each other, whereas a resemblance family is a set of properties with respect to which things can be more or less similar to each other. An example of a resemblance property is being cubical, an example of a non-resemblance property is being either a gold cube or a silver sphere, and an example of a resemblance family is the set of specific mass properties.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on March 11th from 4:15-6:15 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Otávio Bueno (Miami).

Title: Dispensing with the grounds of logical necessity

Abstract: Logical laws are typically conceived as being necessary. But in virtue of what is this the case? That is, what are the grounds of logical necessity? In this paper, I examine four different answers to this question in terms of: truth-conditions, invariance of truth-values under different interpretations, possible worlds, and brute facts. I ultimately find all of them wanting. I conclude that an alternative conception of logic that dispenses altogether with grounds of logical necessity provides a less troublesome alternative. I then indicate some of the central features of this conception.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on March 4th from 4:15-6:15 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Elise Crull (CUNY).

Title: Declaring no dependence

Abstract: Viable fundamental ontologies require at least one suitably stable, generic-yet-toothy metaphysical dependence relation to establish fundamentality. In this talk I argue that recent experiments in quantum physics using Page-Wootters devices to model global vs. local dynamics cast serious doubt on the existence of such metaphysical dependence relations when – and arguably, inevitably within any ontological framework – physical systems serve as the relata.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on February 26th from 4:15-6:15 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Matteo Plebani (Turin).

Title: Semantic paradoxes as collective tragedies

Abstract: What does it mean to solve a paradox? A common assumption is that to solve a paradox we need to find the wrong step in a certain piece of reasoning. In this talk, I will argue while in the case of some paradoxes such an assumption might be correct, in the case of paradoxes such as the liar and Curry’s paradox it can be questioned.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on February 5th from 4:15-6:15 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Roman Kossak (CUNY).

Title: Some model theory for axiomatic theories of truth

Abstract: Tarski’s arithmetic is the complete theory of (N,+,x,Tr), where (N,+,x) is the standard model of arithmetic and Tr is the set of Gödel numbers of all true arithmetic sentences. An axiomatic theory of truth is an axiomatic subtheory of Tarski’s arithmetic. If (M,+,x,T) is a model of an axiomatic theory of truth, then we call T a truth class. In 1981, Kotlarski, Krajewski, and Lachlan proved that every completion of Peano’s arithmetic has a model that is expandable to a model  with a truth class T that satisfies all biconditionals in Tarski’s definition of truth formalized in PA. If T is such a truth class, it assigns truth values to all sentences in the sense of M, standard and nonstandard. The proof showed  that such truth classes can be quite pathological. For example, they may declare true some infinite disjunctions of the single sentence (0=1). In 2018, Enayat and Visser gave  a much simplified model-theoretic proof, which opened the door for further investigations of nonstandard truths, and many interesting new results by many authors appeared. I will survey some of them, concentrating on their model-theoretic content.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will be meeting on Mondays from 4:15 to 6:15 unless otherwise indicated. Talks will be in-person only at the CUNY Graduate Center (Room 7395). The provisional schedule is as follows:

Feb 5. Roman Kossak (CUNY)

Feb 12. NO MEETING

Feb 19. NO MEETING

Feb 26. Matteo Plebani (Turin)

Mar 4. Elise Crull (CUNY)

Mar 11. Otávio Bueno (Miami)

Mar 18. Michał Godziszewski (Warsaw)

Mar 25. Dan Marshall (Lingnan)

Apr 1. Andrew Tedder (Vienna)

Apr 8. Asya Passinsky (CEU)

Apr 15. Jessica Collins (Columbia)

Apr 22. NO MEETING

Apr 29. Anandi Hattiangadi (Stockholm)

May 6. Lorenzo Rossi (Turin)