The bulk of the philosophy of mathematics and logic appears to me to focus on the subjects you focus on in your class: infinity, completeness/incompleteness, (in physics:) relativity, and quantum mechanics.
As a student focusing on math and the theory of computation I'm curious about whether you think that the majority of work in math, physics and theory of CS is relevant to philosophy? Maybe I can clarify my question by relating it to a more frequently brought up issue: many areas of math appear to be unrelated to any physical or practical question, but then decades or centuries later they are applied (ex: group theory to physics, category theory in CS etc.). Do you think a similar pattern could connect math and philosophy?
Is there any research in this direction? Or otherwise do you know of any textbooks or professors who teach in this way, i.e. with a focus on looking to apply their findings (math/physics etc.) to philosophy? The closest thing to what I'm looking for that I've found are Scott Aaronson's writings such as "Why philosophers should care about computational complexity".
tsarnicky15 karma
The bulk of the philosophy of mathematics and logic appears to me to focus on the subjects you focus on in your class: infinity, completeness/incompleteness, (in physics:) relativity, and quantum mechanics.
As a student focusing on math and the theory of computation I'm curious about whether you think that the majority of work in math, physics and theory of CS is relevant to philosophy? Maybe I can clarify my question by relating it to a more frequently brought up issue: many areas of math appear to be unrelated to any physical or practical question, but then decades or centuries later they are applied (ex: group theory to physics, category theory in CS etc.). Do you think a similar pattern could connect math and philosophy?
Is there any research in this direction? Or otherwise do you know of any textbooks or professors who teach in this way, i.e. with a focus on looking to apply their findings (math/physics etc.) to philosophy? The closest thing to what I'm looking for that I've found are Scott Aaronson's writings such as "Why philosophers should care about computational complexity".
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