Colloquium (Jenann Ismael, Johns Hopkins)

As speaker for our first Fall 2023 colloquium, the department is delighted to welcome Jenann Ismael, the inaugural William H. Miller III Professor of Philosophy at Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Ismael concentrates her research on philosophy of physics, metaphysics, philosophy of science, and the philosophy of mind. Before coming to JHU, she was professor of Philosophy at Columbia University and an affiliate of the Zuckerman Institute. She has also taught at Stanford University (1996-98) and the University of Arizona (1998-2018).

This is an in-person event, but for those who cannot join us on campus today, a livestream is available.

Talk Title

Gödel Meets Laplace

Talk Abstract

There’s an understanding of what determinism entails illustrated by the familiar image that Laplace gave us of a demon that can predict everything that will happen in the universe, from knowledge of initial conditions. I’ll argue that there are both specific and general reasons that there could never be a Laplacian demon in the world: not for classical mechanics, not for any theory.