Aims & Scope

"Can we give formal foundations for mathematical practice that allow us to prove metamathematical theorems about notions like proof, mathematical truth or provability?"

"Can logical methods of formalizing the intuitive notion of 'computation' help to answer the fundamental open questions about computation and its role in modern scientific enquiry?"

"Can we develop feasible and implementable formal models of natural (everyday) language and allow us to improve the communication between humans and the computer?"

"How can logical analysis and the formal analysis of concepts help us to approach the great open problems in philosophy?"

These four questions illustrate the central role that logic plays within modern science, connecting all areas of research that involve language and information, in particular mathematics, computer science, linguistics, and philosophy.

Going back to the ancient Greeks, logic was the science of reasoning and truth, deeply entrenched in the Western tradition of philosophy and the study of language. In the XIXth century, logic was put into the formal context of mathematics, enabling us to investigate questions of logic about truth and language with the powerful methods of mathematics, and then in the XXth century, the methods of computer science.

It is this blend of humanistic tradition and modern application that makes logic a uniquely interdisciplinary field, combining humanities and sciences in method and motivation.

The MSc in Logic stands in the Amsterdam tradition (going back to Brouwer and Heyting) of combining philosophical enquiry with formal reasoning and bridging the gap between the humanities and the sciences. It has the international reputation of being the best interdisciplinary programme in logic in the world. Nowhere else in the world are humanities and the sciences so closely linked in their search for answers to questions about truth, information and communication.

(The MSc in Logic is embedded into the research institute ILLC. You can read more about the Scientific Mission of the ILLC here.)