International Conference: The Formal Turn in Twentieth-Century Thought

Call for Registration

February 15-17, 2023

Call for Registration

Place and Date:  February 15-17, 2023, Department of Philosophy (NIG, 3rd floor, seminar room 3D), 

University of Vienna, Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Vienna

Confirmed Speakers:
Confirmed Speakers: Ádám Tamás Tuboly (Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Anna Bellomo (University of Vienna), Ansten Klev (Czech Academy of Sciences), Dirk Schlimm (McGill University), Francesca Biagioli (Università degli Studi di Torino), Leon Horsten (University of Konstanz), Hannes Leitgeb (Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU Munich), Hans Halvorson (Princeton University), Juliette Kennedy (University of Helsinki), Máté Szabó (University of Greenwich, London), Paola Cantù (Aix-Marseille Université and CNRS), Richard Lawrence (University of Vienna), Richard Zach (University of Calgary), Wilfried Sieg (Carnegie Mellon University)

Organized by:  Georg Schiemer, funded by the ERC Project: “The Formal Turn - The Emergence of Formalism in Twentieth-Century Thought” (Grant number 101044114)


Day 1   Wednesday, February 15, 2023

  • 9:00 (s.t.) – 9:15    Opening
  • 9:15 – 10:15    Hannes Leitgeb (Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU Munich), "Reviving Logical Empiricism“
  • 10:15 – 10:30    Tea/Coffee
  • 10:30 – 11:30    Paola Cantù (Aix-Marseille Université and CNRS), "Formalism in the Peano Group“ 11:30 – 11:45    Tea/Coffee
  • 11:45 – 12:45    Anna Bellomo (University of Vienna), "Formalism versus Structuralism in the late Nineteenth Century: A Meaningful Distinction?“
  • 12:45 – 15:00    Lunch
  • 15:00 – 16:00    Francesca Biagioli (Università degli Studi di Torino), "Cassirer on the Logical Form of Scientific Concepts“


Day 2    Thursday, February 16, 2023

  • 9:00 – 10:00    Wilfried Sieg (Carnegie Mellon University), "Two Formalisms“
  • 10:00 – 10:15    Tea/Coffee
  • 10:15 – 11:15    Richard Lawrence (University of Vienna), "Formalism in the Tractatus
  • 11:15 – 11:30    Tea/Coffee
  • 11:30 – 12:30    Ádám Tamás Tuboly (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) and Máté Szabó (University of Greenwich, London), "The Institutionalization of Formal Logic: Alonzo Church and the Review Section of the JSL“
  • 12:30 – 15:00    Lunch
  • 15:00 – 16:00    Dirk Schlimm (McGill University), "On Logical Notations and Formalism“
  • 16:00 – 16:15    Tea/Coffee
  • 16:15 – 17:15    Richard Zach (University of Calgary), "The Formalization of Reasoning“


Day 3    Friday,  February 17, 2023

  • 9:00 – 10:00    Juliette Kennedy (University of Helsinki), "On the Formal/Informal Boundary“
  • 10:00 – 10:15    Tea/Coffee
  • 10:15 – 11:15    Leon Horsten (University of Konstanz), "Our Epistemic Warrant for Reflection Principles“
  • 11:15 – 11:30    Tea/Coffee
  • 11:30 – 12:30    Ansten Klev (Czech Academy of Sciences), "Meaning and Formality in Martin-Löf Type Theory“
  • 12:30 – 15:00    Lunch
  • 15:00 – 16:00    Hans Halvorson (Princeton University), "The Illusive Promise of Formal Semantics“


Admission is free. To register, please send an e-mail to: florian.kolowrat@univie.ac.at

Deadline for registration: February 8, 2023

For further information please visit the events section of the project website: https://formalism.phl.univie.ac.at/ or contact florian.kolowrat@univie.ac.at

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.