ELFT HÍRADÓ

["Laszlo E. Szabo" <leszabo AT philosophy.elte.hu>]

P h i l o s o p h y   o f   S c i e n c e   C o l l o q u i u m

Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
Room 6.54 (6th floor)  Monday 4:00 PM
Pázmány P. sétány 1/A  Budapest, Hungary                
Phone/Fax: (36-1) 372 2924

PROGRAM

S e p t e m b e r           2003

22 September 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54

F r a n c i s   P a s c a l   O' G o r m a n
Department of Philosophy
National University of Ireland, Galway

Philosophy of Mathematics: Poincare's challenge

Frequently we find brief references to similarities between Poincare's 
and the later Wittgenstein's philosophies of arithmetic. Inthis paper we 
attempt to systematically exploresome of these similarities.In partcular 
we look at Poincare's opposition to the logicist programme and his 
rejection of Cantorian infinity and compare his theses to those of the 
later Wittgenstein.


29 September 4:00 PM 6th floor 6.54

K a r l   H a l l
Department of History
Central European University, Budapest

Socialist Realist Physics: Lev Landau's Principled Phenomenology

"The electron does not tolerate bureaucratism," senior Soviet physicists 
assured their technocratic patrons during Stalin's headlong 
industrialization campaign in the late 1920s.  Research programs 
oriented toward Socialist Construction placed Soviet theoretical 
physicists in particular on the defensive.  The young theorist Lev 
Landau deftly steered between engineering imperatives and the longing 
for a unifying mathematical lever to move the world that he blithely 
dismissed as "Einsteinkrankheit."  His peculiar brand of "Socialist 
Realist" physics, forged in the crucible of Stalinist culture, 
eventually enabled him to solve the strangest physics problem of his 
day: superfluidity in helium.

___________________________________
The 60-minute lecture is followed by a 10-minute break. Then we hold a 
30-60-minute discussion. The participants may comment on the talks and 
are encouraged to initiate discussion through the Internet. The 
comments  should be written in the language of the presentation.

The organizer of the seminar: Miklós (email: 
redei AT hps.elte.hu)