Joel David Hamkins

Joel David Hamkins is the O’Hara Professor of Logic at the University of Notre Dame, with significant affiliations to logic and philosophy research communities in China and Japan. His work bridges set theory, computability, and philosophy of mathematics, focusing on foundational questions about infinity, truth, and mathematical existence.

• Key Research Areas: Set theory, potentialism, continuum hypothesis, surreal numbers, forcing, large cardinals, definability, halting problem history
• Recent Talks: Kobe University (2025), Notre Dame HPS Colloquium (2025), Fudan University seminars (2025), Peking University conference (2025)
• Scientific Contributions: 2024 arXiv paper on halting problem attribution, ongoing work on bi-interpretation of surreal arithmetic with ZFC, analysis of transitive submodel principles
• Awards & Recognitions: William Reinhardt Memorial Lecture (2025), former JSPS Fellowship at Kobe University

Hamkins’ work reveals deep connections between technical set theory and philosophical inquiry, particularly through his modal logic approach to potentialism and analysis of truth nonabsoluteness. His 2024 paper with Theodor Nenu re-examines Turing’s legacy, while his technical collaborations with researchers from Fudan University and Oxford advance foundational mathematics.