The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on February 24th from 2:00-4:00 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Eduardo Fermé (Madeira).

Title: Belief change: An introduction

Abstract: The 1985 paper by Carlos Alchourrón (1931–1996), Peter Gärdenfors, and David Makinson (AGM), “On the Logic of Theory Change: Partial Meet Contraction and Revision Functions” was the starting-point of a large and rapidly growing literature that employs formal models in the investigation of changes in belief states and databases. In this talk, the first 40 years of this development are briefly summarized. The topics covered include equivalent characterizations of AGM operations, extended representations of the belief states, change operators not included in the original framework, iterated change, applications of the model, its connections with other formal frameworks, and criticism of the model.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will meet on February 3rd from 2:00-4:00 in-person at the Graduate Center (Room 7395) for a talk by Noah Greenstein (Independent Scholar).

Title: Existentialism, deontic logic and de dicto – de re

Abstract: I investigate how to logically formalize Existentialist obligations, i.e., obligations we have to ourselves and ourselves alone. It is argued that Standard Deontic Logic cannot distinguish between obligations imposed by an external system, like society or a theory of ethics, and self-imposed Existential obligations. A solution to this ambiguity is proposed by applying the De Dicto – De Re distinction to Deontic Logic in the style of Epistemic Logic: by varying the order of the existential quantifier and the modal operator, we can change the interpretation of the statement to represent Existential or external obligations. This leads to a kind of Formal Existentialism, where formal analysis can be applied to Existentialist claims, and new perspectives on standing problems in Deontic Logic.

The Logic and Metaphysics Workshop will be meeting on Mondays from 2:00 to 4:00 pm unless otherwise indicated. Talks will be in-person only at the CUNY Graduate Center (Room 7395). The provisional schedule is as follows:

Feb 3. Noah Greenstein (Independent Scholar)

Feb. 10. Sergei Artemov (CUNY)

Feb 17. NO MEETING

Feb 24. Eduardo Fermé (Madeira)

Mar 3. Koji Tanaka (ANU)

Mar 10. Rani Rachavelpula (Columbia)

Mar 17. Double Session (2:00 to 6:00 pm): Marian Călborean (Bucharest), Greg Restall (St Andrews)

Mar 24. Davide Sutto (Oslo)

Mar 31. NO MEETING

Apr 7. Allison Aitken (Columbia)

Apr 14. NO MEETING

Apr 21. Jacob McNulty (Yale)

Apr 28. Claudine Verheggen (York, CA)

May 5. Luca Incurvati (ILLC)

May 12. Mircea Dumitru (Bucharest)