Richard Zach is a Canadian logician, philosopher of mathematics, and historian of logic and

analytic philosophy Analytic philosophy is a broad movement within Western philosophy, especially English-speaking world, anglophone philosophy, focused on analysis as a philosophical method; clarity of prose; rigor in arguments; and making use of formal logic, mat ...

. He is currently Professor of Philosophy at the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

Research

Zach's research interests include the development of formal logic and historical figures (

Hilbert David Hilbert (; ; 23 January 1862 – 14 February 1943) was a German mathematician and philosophy of mathematics, philosopher of mathematics and one of the most influential mathematicians of his time. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad ...

, Gödel, and Carnap) associated with this development. In the

philosophy of mathematics Philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of mathematics and its relationship to other areas of philosophy, particularly epistemology and metaphysics. Central questions posed include whether or not mathem ...

Zach has worked on

Hilbert's program In mathematics, Hilbert's program, formulated by German mathematician David Hilbert in the early 1920s, was a proposed solution to the foundational crisis of mathematics, when early attempts to clarify the foundations of mathematics were found to ...

and the philosophical relevance of

proof theory Proof theory is a major branchAccording to , proof theory is one of four domains mathematical logic, together with model theory, axiomatic set theory, and recursion theory. consists of four corresponding parts, with part D being about "Proof The ...

. In

mathematical logic Mathematical logic is the study of Logic#Formal logic, formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory (also known as computability theory). Research in mathematical logic com ...

, he has made contributions to proof theory ( epsilon calculus,

proof complexity In logic and theoretical computer science, and specifically proof theory and computational complexity theory, proof complexity is the field aiming to understand and analyse the computational resources that are required to prove or refute statements. ...

) and to modal and

many-valued logic Many-valued logic (also multi- or multiple-valued logic) is a propositional calculus in which there are more than two truth values. Traditionally, in Aristotle's Term logic, logical calculus, there were only two possible values (i.e., "true" and ...

, especially

Gödel logic In mathematical logic, a Gödel logic, sometimes referred to as Dummett logic or Gödel–Dummett logic, is a member of a family of finite- or infinite-valued logics in which the sets of truth values ''V'' are closed subsets of the unit interval ...

Career

Zach received his undergraduate education at the Vienna University of Technology and his Ph.D. at the Group in Logic and the Methodology of Science at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. His dissertation, ''Hilbert's Program: Historical, Philosophical, and Metamathematical Perspectives'', was jointly supervised by Paolo Mancosu and Jack Silver. He has taught at the

since 2001, and holds the rank of Professor. He has held visiting appointments at the

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Irvine, California, United States. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, U ...

and

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

. Zach is a founding editor of the '' Review of Symbolic Logic'' and the '' Journal for the Study of the History of Analytic Philosophy'', and is also associate editor of '' Studia Logica'', and a subject editor for the ''

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy The ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' (''SEP'') is a freely available online philosophy resource published and maintained by Stanford University, encompassing both an online encyclopedia of philosophy and peer-reviewed original publication ...

'' (History of Modern Logic). He serves on the editorial boards of the Bernays edition and the Carnap edition. He was elected to the Council of the Association for Symbolic Logic in 2008 (ASL) and he has served on the ASL Committee on Logic Education and the executive committee of the Kurt Gödel Society.

References

External links

Official Website

LogBlog: A Logic Blog

Departmental information page

Society for the Study of the History of Analytical Philosophy

Open Logic Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zach, Richard Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Canadian philosophers 21st-century Canadian philosophers Academic staff of the University of Calgary Mathematical logicians Philosophers of mathematics Austrian logicians