The Philosophy of Penelope Maddy

This volume features more than 20 essays that explore the work of one of the most important contemporary philosophers of mathematics. It will help readers to better appreciate this significant and prolific philosopher. Within philosophy of mathematics, Penelope Maddy initially advocated realism. She then went on to advance naturalism. Both of her positions became very influential in the field, along with her other work in the philosophy of logic.

The contributors comment on and otherwise engage with Maddy’s work. They also weigh in on the state of set theory and its philosophy, the philosophy and history of logic, naturalism, skepticism, and the myriad other areas to which Maddy left her mark. Overall, coverage traces her influence on these various ideas over the years. It will also help readers to better understand how philosophers working at the forefront of these areas see these concepts today.

These essays will be essential reading for the wide group of philosophers working in these different areas as well as graduate students studying philosophy of mathematics and logic and the other related issues to which Maddy has contributed. The volume will also appeal to logicians and set theorists in general, as well as to philosophers working in analytic philosophy more widely, as well as to those working in the history of philosophy.

Juliette Kennedy has been a member of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Helsinki since 1999. Her work in mathematical logic is focused mainly in the areas of set-theoretic model theory and set theory, but she has also worked in models of arithmetic. In the history, philosophy and foundations of mathematics and logic she has worked extensively on Gödel; but she has also written on Turing, Tarski and Kreisel. In her recent work she has focused on the syntax/semantics distinction; she also works avocationally in the art field as a curator.

Sophia Arbeiter is a graduate student in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, she has studied Philosophy and Logic at the University of Vienna and Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. Her current work is focused on the philosophy of logic, such as logical pluralism and the normativity of logic, as well as the History of Analytic Philosophy, most prominently Carnap.