Bobby Vos

Broadly speaking, my research is driven by two diverse sets of interests: (i) an interest in formal methods (i.e. methods from fields such as logic, mathematics, and computer science) and the way in which such methods have been applied in science and philosophy; (ii) an interest in the contingency and framework-dependency of scientific knowledge.

My current project, Practices of Mathematization, explores the ways in which mathematics has been adopted in different scientific disciplines and the various discipline-specific criteria used to evaluate the usefulness of mathematical methods. This strand of research forms part of my wider research project on the Epistemology of Formal Methods, in which I investigate the role played by formal methods in different fields of study. In particular, I’m interested in the various factors determining the successfulness, or lack thereof, of formal methods in a particular domain of enquiry. As part of this wider project, I also reflect on the use of formal methods in philosophy itself, including the history of logical empiricism.

Before coming to Toronto, I completed my PhD at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, with a thesis titled The Logical Structure of Scientific Knowledge-Systems. I also hold a double master’s degree – one in Mathematics and one in History & Philosophy of Science – from Utrecht University and a double bachelor’s degree in Physics and Mathematics from Radboud University Nijmegen.