John Wigglesworth

Biography

I am a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow at the University of York. Before coming to York, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Vienna and the Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, LMU Munich. My main research areas include the philosophy of mathematics, metaphysics, and formal and philosophical logic. I also have research interests in the philosophy of science, epistemology, and data science.

Research

Overview

My research in the philosophy of mathematics focuses on understanding mathematics in a way that agrees with mathematical and scientific practice. I think that the best way to do this is through a combination of structuralism and nominalism. This approach raises questions that cut across many areas of philosophy, such as the philosophy of science, the philosophy of language, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind.

Projects

Fictionalist Mathematical Structuralism: This research project proposes a novel approach to the philosophy of mathematics that draws on mathematical practice and unifies two divergent perspectives: mathematical structuralism and mathematical fictionalism. The primary objective of the project is to lay down the theoretical framework for a fictionalist approach to mathematical structure, according to which one can describe, manipulate, and apply mathematical structures without being committed to the existence of abstract mathematical entities.

External Activity

External Member, Munich Center for Mathematical Philosophy, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich