aboutlogic #17 | José Pérez Escobar – Wittgenstein, Turing & the Philosophy of Applied Mathematics
About this episode
José Pérez Escobar joins Deniz and Thorsten to discuss the effectiveness of mathematics in science through the lens of Wittgenstein and Turing's philosophies.
aboutlogic #17 | Why is mathematics so effective in science? José Pérez Escobar (UNED, Madrid) joins Deniz and Thorsten to explore Wittgenstein’s philosophy of applied mathematics, the role of rules vs. structures in math, and how models shape our understanding of reality. From neuroscience to physics, José explains why mathematical models often act as rules of description rather than mere representations of reality and how this perspective resolves Wittgenstein’s "rule-following paradox." The conversation also dives into Turing’s structural view of math, the Dirac delta function controversy, and whether contradictions in mathematics are truly problematic.
People in this episode
Hosts: Deniz Sarikaya, Thorsten Altenkirch
Guest: José Pérez Escobar
Topics covered
- philosophy of mathematics
- applied mathematics
- mathematical models
- rule-following paradox
- structural view of math
- neuroscience
- physics
Keywords
- mathematics
- science
- Wittgenstein
- Turing
- applied mathematics
- models
- rule-following
- Dirac delta function
- neuroscience
- physics
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Wittgenstein, Turing, Dirac delta function
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- aboutlogic #18 | The Hidden History of Logic: Jan von Plato on Gödel, Gentzen & Bernays
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