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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2015/2016

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences : Philosophy

Postgraduate Course: Philosophy of Mathematics MSc (PHIL11045)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences CollegeCollege of Humanities and Social Science
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryA one-semester course on the foundations of mathematics. Sketch of the views of Plato and Aristotle through to Kant and Mill. The various foundational positions: realism, logicism, constructivism, formalism and finitism. Logicism. Varieties of formalism. Finitism and Hilbert's programme. The significance of Godel's Incompleteness Theorems and related results concerning truth and computability. Constructivism and intuitionism. The emergence of axiomatic set theory as foundation for all mathematics. Set-theoretic realism. Structuralism. The applicability of mathematics and the indispensability of mathematics.

Shared with UG course PHIL10052 Philosophy of Mathematics.
Course description Not entered
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
Students who have completed this course should be able to:
* Demonstrate a good overall grasp of the main foundational positions concerning mathematics: Platonism, realism, logicism, intuitionism, etc
* Be able to assess the various arguments in favour of, and against, these positions
* Understand the relation between debates about the foundations of mathematics and other topics (such as the applicability of mathematics in science)
Reading List
None
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Not entered
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Aidan Mcglynn
Tel: (0131 6)51 6333
Email: amcglynn@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lynsey Buchanan
Tel: (0131 6)51 5002
Email: Lynsey.Buchanan@ed.ac.uk
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