Mary Tiles (born 1946[1]) is a philosopher and historian of mathematics and science. From 2006 until 2009, she served as chair of the philosophy department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa.[2] She retired in 2009.[3]

Life

edit

At Bristol University, Tiles obtained her B.A. in philosophy and mathematics in 1967, and her Ph.D. in philosophy in 1973, followed by a B.Phil. in philosophy in 1974 at Oxford and a M.A. in 1978 at Cambridge. After positions as lecturer and visiting associate professor at different institutions, Tiles became associate professor of philosophy at University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989, and full professor in 1992.[4]

Work

edit

Tiles' area of work is primarily philosophy and history of logic, mathematics and science, with a special emphasis on French contributions to this area, e.g. by Gaston Bachelard, Georges Canguilhem, Bruno Latour, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Serres, Jean-Claude Martzloff, Karine Chemla, Catherine Jami, and François Jullien.[4]

One of her publications is the 1989 book The Philosophy of Set Theory: An Historical Introduction to Cantor's Paradise. As the subtitle suggests, it is an example of a book that treats the philosophy of mathematics as inseparable from historical concerns.[5] Despite some criticisms, for its lack of technical detail and correctness, and for pressing the author's philosophical agenda on its readers,[6] it has been recommended as an introductory textbook for undergraduates interested in the philosophy of mathematics.[7][8][9]

Bibliography

edit
  • with Hans Oberdiek, Living in a Technological Culture: Human Tools and Human Values, Routledge 1995.[10][11]
  • with Jim Tiles, An Introduction to Historical Epistemology: The Authority of Knowledge, Oxford 1993.[12][13][14]
  • Mathematics and the Image of Reason, Routledge 1991.[15][16][17]
  • The Philosophy of Set Theory: An Historical Introduction to Cantor's Paradise, Blackwell 1989; reprinted by Dover 2004.[6][7][8][9][18]
  • Bachelard: Science and Objectivity, Cambridge University Press 1984.[19][20][21][22][23][24]

References

edit
  1. ^ Date information sourced from Library of Congress Authorities data, via corresponding WorldCat Identities linked authority file (LAF).
  2. ^ Faculty of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
  3. ^ "Emeriti Faculty". Philosophy Department. University of Hawaii at Manoa. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b http://www.hawaii.edu/phil/cvs/PDF/MTilesCV04.pdf[permanent dead link] CV at www.hawaii.edu/phil/
  5. ^ Jongsma, Calvin (21 March 2016). "Philosophical Introduction to Set Theory". MAA Reviews. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  6. ^ a b Anellis, Irving H. (1992). "Review of Mary Tiles, The Philosophy of Set Theory: A Historical Introduction to Cantor's Paradise". Modern Logic. 2 (4): 392–404. A reply by Tiles was published as Tiles, M. (1993). "Letters". Philosophia Mathematica. 1: 73–74. doi:10.1093/philmat/1.1.73.
  7. ^ a b Berg, Michael (1 December 2004). "The Philosophy of Set Theory: An Historical Introduction to Cantor's Paradise". MAA Reviews. Retrieved 18 February 2019.
  8. ^ a b Brown, James Robert (1990). "The Philosophy of Set Theory: An Introduction to Cantor's Paradise, Mary Tiles, Oxford: Blackwell, 1989, x + 239 p. £30". Dialogue. 29 (2): 314–316. doi:10.1017/S0012217300013068. S2CID 170501682.
  9. ^ a b Holmes, M. R. (2006). "Mary Tiles. The philosophy of set theory, an historical introduction to Cantor's paradise. Courier Dover Publications, 2004, xiii + 239 pp". Bulletin of Symbolic Logic. 12 (4): 601–604. doi:10.2178/bsl/1164056809. S2CID 124006063.
  10. ^ Post, Robert C. (September 1997), "Living in a Technological Culture: Human Tools and Human Values by Mary Tiles, Hans Oberdiek", Isis, 88 (3): 580–581, doi:10.1086/383842, JSTOR 236224
  11. ^ Harper, Richard (September 1999), "Book Review: Living in a Technological Culture: Human Tools and Human Values", Sociological Research Online, 4 (3): 308–310, doi:10.1177/136078049900400313, S2CID 148748374
  12. ^ Bermudez, Luis (April 1996), "An Introduction to Historical Epistemology: The Authority of Knowledge by Mary Tiles and Jim Tiles", Philosophical Books, 37 (2): 124–125, doi:10.1111/j.1468-0149.1996.tb02965.x
  13. ^ Williams, John N. (March 1996), "Tiles, Mary and Tiles, Jim, An Introduction to Historical Epistemology: The Authority of Knowledge", Book reviews, Australasian Journal of Philosophy, 74 (1): 232–234, doi:10.1080/00048409612347191
  14. ^ Hamlyn, D. W. (October 1994), "Reviewed Work: An Introduction to Historical Epistemology by Mary Tiles, Jim Tiles", Philosophy, 69 (270): 511–513, doi:10.1017/s0031819100047355, JSTOR 3751375, S2CID 170941671
  15. ^ Moore, A. W. (1992). "Mathematics and the Image of Reason". Philosophical Books. 33 (1): 62–64. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0149.1992.tb02334.x.
  16. ^ Burgess, John P. (August–September 1992), "Mathematics and the Image of Reason by Mary Tiles", American Mathematical Monthly, 99 (7): 688–691, doi:10.2307/2325018, JSTOR 2325018
  17. ^ Franklin, James (1993), "Mathematics and the image of reason", Mathematical Reviews, MR 1141388
  18. ^ Garciadiego, Alejandro R. (1990), "The philosophy of set theory", Mathematical Reviews, MR 1012115
  19. ^ Rockmore, Tom (1986). "Reviewed Work: Bachelard: Science and Objectivity by Mary Tiles". The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science. 34 (4): 529–531. doi:10.1093/bjps/37.4.529. JSTOR 687382.
  20. ^ Savers, Sean (1986). "Bachelard: Science and Objectivity". Philosophical Books. 27: 41–43. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0149.1986.tb01136.x.
  21. ^ Schaffer, Simon (1986). "Bachelard. Science and Objectivity. By Mary Tiles. Cambridge: University Press. 1984. xxii + 242 pp. £20.00 and £7.95". French Studies. 40 (1): 106–107. doi:10.1093/fs/XL.1.106.
  22. ^ Clark, J. G. (April 1986), "Bachelard: Science and Objectivity by Mary Tiles", The Modern Language Review, 81 (2): 492–493, doi:10.2307/3729764, JSTOR 3729764
  23. ^ Gutting, Gary (June 1990), "Bachelard: Science and Objectivity by Mary Tiles", Philosophy of Science, 57 (2): 343–344, doi:10.1086/289559, JSTOR 187847
  24. ^ Smith, Colin (July 1987), "Bachelard: Science and Objectivity by Mary Tiles", Philosophy, 62 (241): 399–401, doi:10.1017/s0031819100038912, JSTOR 3750849, S2CID 170124970