Metaphysics in higher-order languages

This workshop will be concerned with questions of metaphysics which can be posed in higher order languages. 

Higher order languages allow for variables having different syntactic categories — for example, variables that are predicates, and variables that are formulae (open sentence) — and for quantifiers that can bind such variables. Sentences of such languages are sometimes treated as shorthand for sentences about abstract objects, such as propositions and properties. The workshop will explore views which reject such equivalences, or at least, take sentences of higher order languages as precise, intelligible, and metaphysically interesting as they stand. This approach has deep historical roots: it is arguably the view of Frege's Begriffsschrift, and was influentially promoted by A.N. Prior. It has also recently enjoyed a resurgence; for example, Timothy Williamson makes extensive use of higher order logic in his book "Modal Logic as Metaphysics". 

The program will consist of blind-reviewed submitted papers, followed by comments by invited commentators.  The schedule is now available here: http://philosophy.fas.nyu.edu/object/2017.nyipworkshop.metaphysics.

Speakers:

• Michael Caie, Jeremy Goodman, and Harvey Lederman (Universities of Pittsburgh and of Southern California)
• Peter Fritz (University of Oslo)
• Harold Hodes (Cornell University)
• Kevin Klement (UMass, Amherst)
• Bryan Pickel (University of Edinburgh)
• Jeff Russell (University of Southern California)
• Rohan Sud (Bates College)

Commentators include:

• Catharine Diehl (Humbold-Universität zu Berlin)
• Tom Donaldson (Stanford University)
• Paul Hovda (Reed College)
• Agustîn Rayo (MIT)
• Katherine Ritchie (City College of New York)

If you are planning to attend, we would appreciate it if you let us know, either by registering on this site or by emailing Iliana Gioulatou ([email protected]).