Kurt Gödel and Alfred Tarski: The Extremes of Logic

Speaker: Prof. Matthias Baaz (Vienna University of Technology) Time: 2021-01-14, 19:30-21:30 Beijing Time (UTC 11:30-13:30) Organizer: School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, China Host: Prof. Yong Cheng (Wuhan University) Abstract: In this lecture commemorating the birth of Alfred Tarski and the death of Kurt Gödel, we will compare the eminent founders of modern logic: Kurt Gödel and Alfred Tarski. Kurt Gödel has been driven by the the possibility that the individual thinking might transgress its own limits. The solutions of mathematical problems are the models, not the aims of his thinking. He strongly believed in the simplicity of all solutions maybe beyond language. Therefore he chose very carefully the next generation scientists with whom he communicated (basically Georg Kreisel, Gaisi Takeuti and Hao Wang). Alfred Tarski on the other hand grew up in the logical traditions of Poland. He considered logic as a mathematical subject based on a mathematical language, which is very able to contribute to mathematics as algebra, topology etc. He emphasized the formal semantical relations as entailment, satisfaction and truth. He educated many students and influenced not only logic and mathematics but also formal linguistics by his thorough mathematical rigor.