Activities
MAA Mathfest
August 6-9, 2025
Sacramento, CA
POMSIGMAA Business Meeting, Reception, and Guest Lecture
Speaker: Jared Warren, Stanford University
Title: Conventionalism and Mathematical Truth
Thursday, August 7, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Ballroom A7-8
Abstract: Mathematics consists of various truths – two plus two equals four, there are infinitely many prime numbers, every set has a power set – yet mathematical truth is puzzling. Mathematical truths seem to describe various abstract objects – numbers, sets, functions – while also seeming objective, eternal, and necessary. But it is very difficult to understand how human beings could ever discover objective, eternal, and necessary truths about abstract objects. It is so difficult to understand that many historical philosophers and mathematicians gave up on trying to understand it. Despite this, all of the puzzling features of mathematical truth get demystified once we embrace conventionalism about mathematics. According to mathematical conventionalism, mathematics is a byproduct of our linguistic conventions and conceptual choices. Conventionalism was historically popular among scientists and empiricist philosophers but fell out of favor during the resurgence of metaphysical speculations in the late twentieth century. Whether fashionable or not, I will explain conventionalism and argue that it is the only way to correctly understand and demystify mathematical truth.
Organizer: Bonnie Gold
Invited Paper Session
Philosophy of Mathematics: The View from Paradox
Friday August 8, 2025, 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
Ballroom B2
Session description:
Logicians, it is said, abhor ambiguity but love paradox. This opening sentence of 'The Liar' by Barwise and Etchemendy captures some of the appeal of the notion of paradox, and there is no denying that paradoxes have had an influence on philosophy of mathematics over the millennia. From Zeno and the Liar through Gilbert and Sullivan to Russell and Yablo, paradoxes have been partners with which philosophers and theories have sparred. They have had an effect on mathematics as well. What is the status of a paradox like the set of all sets? At what stage does a paradox like Lowenheim-Skolem become a theorem? This session will be devoted to the role of paradoxes in the philosophy of mathematics and logic. There will be room for other topics in the philosophy of mathematics as time allows.
| Time | Presenter | Title |
|---|---|---|
| 8:00 a.m. | Martin Flashman | Mathematical Paradoxes and the Evolution of Philosophical Commitments |
| Cal Poly Humboldt (Emeritus) | ||
| 9:00 a.m. | Daniel Sloughter | Algorithms and Neoplatonism in an Old Norse Algorismus |
| Furman University (Emeritus) | ||
| 9:30 a.m. | Amy Ackerberg-Hastings | The Paradoxical Philosophy of American Mathematics Education, 1790–1840 |
| MAA Convergence | ||
| 10:00 a.m. | Paul Zorn | An Ample Budget of Paradoxes |
| St. Olaf College (Emeritus) | ||
| 10:30 a.m. | Thomas Drucker | Truth Standing On Its Head |
| University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (Emeritus) |
Organizers: Steve Deckleman, Thomas Drucker, Bonnie Gold
Joint Math Meetings
January 4-7, 2026
Washington, DC
Contributed Paper Session
Current Directions in the Philosophy of Mathematics
Call for Papers
Deadline: September 9, 2025
In the last 15 years, work in the philosophy of mathematics that is of interest to mathematicians has broadened, due in part to a new organization, the Association for the Philosophy of Mathematical Practice. This session will have speakers speaking on a range of topics in the philosophy of mathematics, both of the traditional variety (involving foundations) and the more recent developments.
To propose a talk, go to https://meetings.ams.org/math/jmm2026/cfp.cgi. To submit to the Special Session, read through the description there of what you have to do. Toward the bottom of that page is a list of organizations. You’ll be submitting a proposal under "MAA (MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA — PROPOSALS FROM SIGMAAS ONLY)" That then brings you to a log-in page: you do NOT have to be an AMS member to use this: you can create an account right there that doesn’t involve AMS membership.
On the page it brings you to, you will choose the last option, MAASS6A SIGMAA Special Session on Current Directions in the Philosophy of Mathematics, I. Then go through the rest of the stuff. You can save partway through, and can revise up until the deadline of September 9.