Gregory Lavers, PhD

Dr. Lavers received his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 2004. His teaching and research interests focus on issues at the intersection of history of analytic philosophy (including Frege, Russell, Wittgenstein, Carnap, and Quine), philosophy of language, and the philosophy of mathematics. His current research explores the relation between philosophical analysis and the identification of mathematical axioms in order to better understand the special place of mathematics among the sciences. Much of his work has focused in particular on examining Carnap`s position on the foundations of mathematics. Dr. Lavers is part of an FQRSC funded research group called the Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire de Montréal en histoire et en philosophie de la logique et des mathématiques.  He has also received FQRSC funding for his own research project.

Other Information

Montreal has an active research group working of the philosophy of mathematics that spans the four universities. Concordia students can take up to two classes at other universities. Information on some of the group's activities can be found here.

“Frege, Carnap, and Explication: ‘Our Concern Here is to Arrive at a Concept of Number Usable for the Purpose of Science’" History and Philosophy of Logic (special issue on Frege’s philosophy of mathematics and language), Vol. 34, No. 3, 225-241. 2013
"On the Quinean-analyticity of mathematical propositions" Philosophical Studies , v. 159, n. 2, pp. 299-319. 2012

" Frege and Numbers as Self-Subsistent Objects” in Discusiones Filosóficas, Year 11 No 17, julio – diciembre, 2010. pp. 97 - 118

"Benacerraf's dilemma and informal mathematics" The Review of Symbolic Logic, Vol. 2, no. 4, pp769-85. , 2009

"Carnap, formalism and informal rigour" Philosophia Mathamatica, 16(1), 4-24, 2008.

"Carnap, semantics and ontology" in Erkenntnis 60 (3): 295-316, 2004.

Open access versions of most of my publications can be found here.