Ray Monk (University of Southampton): 'The Philosophy of Mathematics: A Wittgensteinian Approach'
This talk will assume no prior knowledge of the philosophy of mathematics. I will begin with an introduction to some of the main problems in the field, followed by a brief resume of the ways philosophers have dealt with those problems since the time of Plato. I will then try to show why Wittgenstein's approach to the philosophy of mathematics is so radical and how it makes a sharp break with the past. Finally, I will discuss some specific problems Wittgenstein's views give rise to.
