Binghe Gong

1st Year Graduate Student | M.A. program in Philosophy

I'm primarily interested in Philosophy of Language, especially in theories of quantifier meaning. I'm particularly interested in expressions of generality and how to understand them. More recently, I have a growing interest in philosophy of mind and theories of normativity. I'm very sympathetic to the idea that human world is full of norms and rules which are determined collectively and responsibly. (a simple (and Heideggerian) example would be that a hammer is for hammering). Unconventionally, I'm very passionate to explore how such social factors may be extended to areas that are not so commonly conceived as human-dependent, such as logic (e.g., choosing among logic systems and setting up different models in modal logic), mathematics (e.g., debating whether some axioms, like the Axioms of Choice, should be accepted as axioms), and scientific investigations (e.g., the appearance of a paradigm shift).

Prior to joining Columbia, I have completed a B.A. in Philosophy at Franklin & Marshall College.