The conference "Numbers and truth - the philosophy and mathematics of arithmetic and truth" 
(http://www.numbersandtruth.org/) will be held at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, on 
October 19-21, 2012. Its main objective is to permit an exchange of ideas between truth theorists, 
philosophers and mathematicians interested in the foundations of mathematics. It will give the 
researchers an opportunity both to present technical results and to diagnose their philosophical 
significance.


* Conference Description

Natural numbers belong to the most commonly known mathematical entities and are studied and 
discussed from various angles. Philosophers, mathematicians, cognitive scientists, computer 
scientists among others conduct research having for its aim a deeper understanding of these 
objects. The present conference Numbers and truth will contribute to these efforts and bring 
together researchers and traditions from all these areas to construct common ground for new 
research.

Within recent philosophy of mathematics a couple of competitive philosophical schools came to 
the foreground; importantly, structuralism and neo-Fregeanism. Both of them espouse realism 
about mathematical objects: these objects exist independently of our minds. In addition, both 
espouse realism about truth: arithmetical sentences have objective truth values. In this context 
a natural question arises whether theories of arithmetical truth provide us a better understanding 
of what is true of natural numbers, and in consequence, of what natural numbers are. What is the 
relation between a choice of a particular conception of arithmetical truth and one's overall 
standpoint in the philosophy of mathematics, or maybe even one's preferred way of doing mathematics?
On a general level, the aim of the conference is to address issues of this sort. This will be 
achieved by bringing together both the acknowledged experts and outstanding younger researchers, 
in order to facilitate discussion between philosophers of mathematics, truth theorists and 
mathematicians.

The conference will contain 10 invited and 4 contributed talks.

The invited speakers who have confirmed their participation are (in alphabetic order):

* Martin Fischer (Munich)
* Volker Halbach (Oxford)
* Leon Horsten (Bristol)
* Richard Kaye (Birmingham)
* Juliette Kennedy (Helsinki)
* Roman Kossak (New York)
* Rafal Urbaniak (Gdansk/Ghent)
* Albert Visser (Utrecht)
* Sean Walsh (Irvine)
* Konrad Zdanowski (Warsaw)


* Submissions Details

We invite submissions presenting novel contributions to the area of philosophy of mathematics, 
arithmetic together with its meta-mathematics and model theory, and formal theory of truth. Both 
philosophical and technical submissions are welcome; especially ones contributing to the discussion
of how truth in mathematics should be properly explained.

Extended abstracts of 3-4 pages should be emailed as attached pdf files to the address 
organizers@numbersandtruth.org . Abstracts for submission should be prepared for double-blind 
reviewing, please remove names and affiliations, and any other identifying material. Contact 
details should be given separately. Presentations should not exceed 45 minutes, including 
discussion time. The deadline for submitting extended abstracts is August 8, 2012.

The organizers will cover the cost of accommodation and dinners for all contributed speakers. 
We are negotiating with the sponsors with the intention to be able to pay for traveling as well.


*Important Dates:

Submission deadline: August 8, 2012
Notification of acceptance: August 31, 2012
Conference: October 19-21, 2012
Contact: organizers@numbersandtruth.org


*Conference Website: http://www.numbersandtruth.org/


*Organizers: Fredrik Engstrom (Gothenburg), Cezary Cieslinski (Warsaw), and Paula Quinon (Lund)


*Sponsors: Riksbankens Jubileumsfond, Marcus Wallenbergs Stiftelse för 
Internationellt Vetenskapligt Samarbete, Wenner-Gren Foundations, and the 
Department of Philosophy, Linguistics and Theory of Science, University of 
Gothenburg.