MATH8343 Foundations of Mathematics
S16 units8000-level
This course is a critical approach to the foundations of mathematics. In other mathematics classes, the philosophical concepts at the most basic foundations are usually treated naively. The question of what exactly a number is, or what a set or a proof or an algorithm are, is completely ignored. Some evidence that these matters are not insubstantial is that in the early twentieth century, naive attempts to address them by the great logicians of the time led to famous paradoxes and a period known as the Crisis in Foundations of Mathematics. This course will address these matters directly and rigorously. It spends a few weeks on each of the following topics: First order logic Axiomatisation of set theory Model theory Computability Godel's Incompleteness Theorem Other topics in logic and set theory
- 2024S1
- 2025S1
- 2026S1
- 2027S1
Prerequisites in 2025
No prerequisites
None: anyone in a postgraduate program can enrol.
Incompatible with MATH3343, MATH4343, MATH6203: you can't count both.
The handbook's original wording (2024–2027)
To enrol in this course you need to be active in the Master of Mathematical Sciences (Advanced) or Master of Science in Mathematical Sciences. Incompatible with MATH3343 , MATH4343 and MATH6203 .
What it leads to in 2025
No course names MATH8343 in its 2025 prerequisites.