Gabriele Baratelli: ‘Mathematical Practice & Sedimentation in Husserl’

Gabriele Baratelli (University of Graz)

BSP Research Seminar 2026

Session 5

Gabriele Baratelli

Online | December | Free

Final session of the 2026 season of the BSP Research Seminar – monthly sessions featuring a speaker from the world of phenomenology.

Gabriele Baratelli

Mathematical Practice and Sedimentation in Husserl

Date and time: Thursday 10 December 2026, 18:00–19:30 UK/Ireland time

The talk explores the relevance of Edmund Husserl’s concept of sedimentation (Sedimentierung) for his phenomenology and for the philosophy of mathematics in general. The presentation is divided into two parts. The first part argues that, although sedimentation is traditionally associated with Husserl’s late crisis-period writings, it provides an invaluable retroactive framework for understanding his entire trajectory in the philosophy of mathematics, tracing back to the Philosophy of Arithmetic. Specifically, we examine how sedimentation provides a crucial framework for understanding purely theoretical concepts, such as that of formalization. On this basis, I argue in the second part that this notion can fruitfully dialogue with the contemporary philosophy of mathematical practice. By critically studying the relationship between the constitution of ideal objects and their potentially deceptive traditionalization, sedimentation lies at the junction between the historicity of formal disciplines and the ideal status of their truths. Ultimately, the resulting picture highlights a multi-layered, non-linear sense of historicity, where the development of mathematical concepts is understood not as a cumulative progression, but through hidden shifts and possible reactivations.

Find out moreabout session 5 including free online joining instructions.