Nicholas Bingham/ Tim Button/ Mary Leng/ Adam Ostaszewski

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How seriously should philosophical worries about mathematics be taken? And should mathematical results ever force our philosophical hands? Philosophers and mathematicians have often found plenty to disagree about throughout history, but there have been many fruitful interactions too. We indulge in a bit of group therapy, examining some key cases of philosophical and mathematical interaction. Does infinitesimal mathematics commit us to an infinitely divisible world? Do the prime mating cycles of cicadas tell us something about the existence of mathematical objects? Let’s run the numbers…

Speakers
Nicholas Bingham, Professor of Mathematics, Imperial College London
Tim Button, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of Cambridge
Mary Leng, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of York
Adam Ostaszewski, Professor of Mathematics, LSE

Chair
Clare Moriarty, Fellow, The Forum

Recorded on 19 March 2018 at the LSE.