Alexander Paseau

Alexander Pasea
Born
Alexander Christopher Paseau
EducationCambridge University (PhD, BA), Oxford University (BPhil), Princeton University
Era21st-century philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
InstitutionsUniversity of Oxford

Alexander Christopher Paseau is a British philosopher of Greek and Belgian origin. He is Professor of Mathematical Philosophy at the University of Oxford and the Stuart Hampshire Fellow at Wadham College.[1] He specializes in the philosophy of logic, the philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, epistemology, and the philosophy of religion, and has made many well-known contributions to these fields.[2]

He has been an Associate Editor of the journal Mind and has held Research Fellowships from the Mind Association and the Leverhulme Trust.[3]

Research work

Paseau subscribes to a broadly realist conception of mathematical truth, stating in an interview that "mathematical truth is not tensed. Mathematicians discover mathematical truths; they don’t make them up".[4] In the same interview, Paseau also maintains that "inductive reasoning is crucial for mathematical knowledge" and that "we can know a mathematical truth without ever having proved it".

Paseau also works on the subtraction argument for metaphysical nihilism. Paseau's view is discussed and defended by Gonzalo Rodriguez-Pereyra in "The Subtraction Arguments for Metaphysical Nihilism: Compared and Defended".[5]

Books

  • Mathematical Knowledge, co-editor with Mary Leng and Michael Potter, Oxford University Press 2007[6][7]
  • Philosophy of Mathematics, (ed.), 5 volumes, Routledge 2017
  • One True Logic, with Owen Griffiths, Oxford University Press 2022[8]
  • Indispensability, with Alan Baker, Cambridge University Press, 2023.
  • The Euclidean Programme, with Wesley Wrigley, Cambridge University Press, forthcoming
  • What is Mathematics About?, Oxford University Press, forthcoming

References

  1. ^ "Alexander Paseau". University of Oxford.
  2. ^ "A.c. Paseau (Oxford University) - PhilPeople". Philpeople.org.
  3. ^ "Research Fellowships 2019". The Leverhulme Trust.
  4. ^ "Along With The Eggs, Are There Sets Of Eggs In The Fridge Too? And Other Key Questions..." 3:16. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  5. ^ "The Puzzle of Existence: Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?". Routledge & CRC Press. Retrieved 2022-06-25.
  6. ^ Chudnoff, E. (1 July 2009). "Mathematical Knowledge, edited by Mary Leng, Alexander Paseau, and Michael Potter". Mind. 118 (471): 846–850. doi:10.1093/mind/fzp079.
  7. ^ "Mathematical Knowledge". Mathematical Association of America.
  8. ^ Stei, Erik (17 October 2023). "Review of One True Logic: A Monist Manifesto". Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews. ISSN 1538-1617.