Title: The Taming of the Truth
Lecturer: Volker Halbach (Professor of Philosophy, Oxford University)
Chairperson: XU Zhu (Associate Professor of Philosophy, East China Normal University)
Date: 3 pm, September 21st, 2017 (Thursday)
Venue: Room 5103, Building of School of Humanities, Minhang Campus, ECNU
Sponsor: Si-mian Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities, ECNU
Abstract of the Lecture:
Truth is a wild notion: Thinking about truth can lead one to the results of modern mathematical logic as well as into dark corners of philosophy. Some sober-minded philosophers have tried to ban truth from philosophical discourse; others have declared it a trivial concept, while still others have tried to tame it using formal logical theories. One reason why truth is so difficult to domesticate truth and to transform it into a philosophically and mathematically useful concept are paradoxes. The most famous paradox is the liar paradox, which has vexed logicians since antiquity. Reflecting on the paradoxes has lead philosophers and logicians to new mathematical and philosophical insights. Exactly because truth is such a wild notion and prone to paradox, it is a fruitful and intriguing notion.
Brief Introduction of the Lecturer:
Prof. Volker Halbach is a professor of philosophy at Oxford University. His research interests are Logic, Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophy of Language and Epistemology. He is a representative character of axiomatic approach of truth, and has published almost fifty papers in journals such as Mind、Synthese、Journal of Symbolic Logic, and three books among which Axiomatic Theories of Truth has a wide-ranging effect or influence. He is also a member of the editorial board Bulletin of Symbolic Logic, Lecture Notes in Logic, etc.
