Mary Tiles is a philosopher and historian of mathematics and science. she is professor and chair in the philosophy department of the University of Hawaii at Manoa

University of Hawaii at Manoa

The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a public, co-educational university and is the flagship campus of the greater University of Hawaii system...

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Life

At Bristol University Tiles obtained her B.A. in philosophy and mathematics 1967 and her Ph.D. in philosophy 1973, followed by a B.Phil. in philosophy 1974 at Oxford

University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...

 and a M.A. 1978 at Cambridge

University of Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...

. After positions as lecturer and visiting associate professor at different institution, Tiles became associate professor of philosophy at University of Hawaii at Manoa in 1989 and full professor 1992.

Work

Tiles area of work is primarily philosophy and history of logic, mathematics and science, with a special emphasis on French contributions to this area, e.g. by Gaston Bachelard

Gaston Bachelard

Gaston Bachelard was a French philosopher. He made contributions in the fields of poetics and the philosophy of science. To the latter he introduced the concepts of epistemological obstacle and epistemological break...

, Georges Canguilhem

Georges Canguilhem

Georges Canguilhem was a French philosopher and physician who specialized in epistemology and the philosophy of science .-Life and work:...

, Bruno Latour

Bruno Latour

Bruno Latour is a French sociologist of science and anthropologist and an influential theorist in the field of Science and Technology Studies...

,
Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault

Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...

, Pierre Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu

Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...

, Michel Serres

Michel Serres

Michel Serres is a French philosopher and author, celebrated for his unusual career.-Life and career:...

, Jean-Claude Martzloff, Karine Chemla, Catherine Jami, and François Jullien

François Jullien

François Jullien is a French Sinologist. Jullien was President of the French Association for Chinese Studies , director of the East Asian Department of the University of Paris VII and President of the Collège international de philosophie...

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Arguably her best-known publication is the 1989 book "The Philosophy of Set Theory: An Introduction to Cantor's Paradise". Despite some criticisms, for its lack of technical detail and correctness, and for pressing the author's philosophical agenda on its readers, it can be considered as a standard textbook for non-mathematicians.