John Marvin

Academics

I am a joint PhD Student at the University of Chicago in the Department of Philosophy and in Philosophy of Religions at the Divinity School, primarily interested in approaching the philosophy of mathematics and logic (and philosophical areas at large for which it has important implications) with critical attention to the broader context of intellectual history surrounding mathematical/logical practice and the philosophy thereof. My research focuses in on the evolution of mathematics and the formalization of logic from the 19th century to the present alongside the development of intellectual currents such as the emergence of phenomenology, the divergence of analytic philosophy, and developments in the philosophy of science. Through a reexamination of the evolution of the ideas, questions, framing, and desiderata of philosophical reflections on mathematics and logic in their entanglements with both the wider intellectual forces bearing upon them and the surprises of mathematical research itself, my dissertation research attempts to find new routes to address—or dissolve—longstanding issues and problems occupying the literature. Along with directly philosophical work and these more expansive interests in intellectual history, the comparative analysis of religious thought and language with abstract mathematical reasoning, and the study of their intersections, I am also interested in working on concrete problems in philosophical logic, especially in areas like type theory, set theory, and computability theory, and in various topics in the philosophy of physics (especially quantum mechanics). 

I started my undergraduate career as an advanced chemistry student after spending some time before college employed as a full-time computer science researcher working on precision time protocols in networking standards, and despite my decision to shift focus to studying philosophy and religion, continued to independently pursue mathematics, logic, analytic philosophy, and scientific theory. As a graduate student, I have since had the chance to do doctoral coursework through the mathematics and philosophy departments in set theory, computability theory, type theory, category theory, and other areas of advanced mathematical logic.

One can peruse my CV here.

Publications

“A Neglected God for the Reality of Argument” – Transactions of the Charles S. Peirce Society, v. 60, no. 3, Summer 2024, pgs. 243-270.

Music

Beyond academics, most of my time and thought ends up turned toward music.  I am a self-taught jazz pianist, taking strongest influence and inspiration from such forebears as Ahmad Jamal, Clare Fischer, Keith Jarrett, and (especially the final months of output by) Bill Evans, as well as from contemporaries like Robert Glasper, Sullivan Fortner, and naturally many others across time.  In an earlier phase of life, I played guitar (and other instruments) in Midwest emo/screamo, experimental heavy metal, and avant-garde electronic bands and projects.  I am happy to share recordings with anyone interested in hearing them.