Matthew Parker

Matt works mainly in the philosophy of mathematical sciences such as probability, cosmology, set theory, computable analysis, and dynamical systems.  His current project is about self-locating uncertainty and evidence in an infinite multiverse, such as that implied by eternal inflation cosmology.  What is the chance that you should be in a spatially flat world rather than a curved one?  Does traditional probability theory apply, or is a different theory of chance required?  And how does this bear on the confirmation of cosmological theories?

In other recent work, Matt has criticized new, unorthodox theories of probability and infinite number on pragmatic grounds, while defending their legitimacy against anti-pluralist forms of realism.  In his dissertation and related papers, he motivated a new concept of decidability for problems in mathematical analysis and physics and proved that the known stable orbits of planetary systems and similar systems are undecidable in this important sense.  He is generally interested in engineering epistemically fruitful concepts and in underlying issues of realism and conceptual pluralism.

Matt grew up in San Diego, studied at UCLA and the University of Chicago, and has taught at the LSE and University of Bristol.  He was recently a Research Associate for the “New Directions in Philosophy of Cosmology” project at the Rotman Institute of Philosophy.

CONTACT: matthew.parker@uwo.ca