John Lane Bell
John Lane Bell is a Canadian philosopher, mathematician, and logician specializing in mathematical logic and the foundations of mathematics. He served as Professor of Philosophy at the University of [Western Ontario] from 1989 until his retirement in 2019, and previously held positions at the London School of Economics from 1968 to 1989. Elected a Fellow of the [Royal Society of Canada] in 2009, Bell's research encompasses constructive mathematics, intuitionistic logic, set theory, topos theory, and the axiom of choice, among other topics.
Bell has authored influential books including Intuitionistic Set Theory, which explores set-theoretic foundations intuitionistic principles, and Oppositions and Paradoxes, addressing logical and philosophical paradoxes. His work bridges technical developments in logic with philosophical inquiries into continuity, infinitesimals, and the nature of mathematical structures, contributing to the ongoing debates in the philosophy of mathematics.
Biography
John Bell was awarded a scholarship to Oxford University at the age of 15, and graduated with a D.Phil. in Mathematics: his dissertation supervisor was John Crossley. During 1968–89 he was Lecturer in Mathematics and Reader in Mathematical Logic at the London School of Economics.Bell's students include Graham Priest, Michael Hallett, David DeVidi, Elaine Landry and Richard A. Feist.