This will be a talk for the conference L’indépendance mathématique et ses limites logiques, an instance of the MAMUPHI seminar (mathématiques – musique – philosophie), organized by Mirna Džamonja, 12 February 2022. Most talks will be in-person in Paris, but my talk will be on Zoom via https://u-pec-fr.zoom.us/j/86448599486 at 4:30 pm CET (10:30 am EST).

Abstract: What is the nature of mathematical ontology—what does it mean to make existence assertions in mathematics? Is there an ideal mathematical realm, a mathematical universe, that those assertions are about? Perhaps there is more than one. Does every mathematical assertion ultimately have a definitive truth value? I shall lay out some of the back-and-forth in what is currently a vigorous debate taking place in the philosophy of set theory concerning pluralism in the set-theoretic foundations, concerning whether there is just one set-theoretic universe underlying our mathematical claims or whether there is a diversity of possible set-theoretic conceptions.