Implications of Experimental Mathematics for the Philosophy of Mathematics, Jonathan Borwein

2008 ◽  
pp. 33-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Alcolea Banegas

RESUMENPresentamos la contribución de Th. Tymoczko a la filosofía de la matemática y analizamos y evaluamos las demostraciones asistidas por ordenador y los razonamientos no rigurosos en la matemática experimental, con particular referencia al Teorema de los Cuatro Colores.PALABRAS CLAVETYMOCZKO – CUASI-EMPIRISMO – MATEMÁTICA EXPERIMENTAL – RAZONAMIENTO NO RIGUROSO – DEMOSTRACIONES ASISTIDAS POR ORDENADORABSTRACTWe present Th. Tymoczko’s contribution to the philosophy of mathematics, and we analyze and evaluate the computer-assisted proofs and the non-rigorous reasonings in the experimental mathematics, particularly in reference to the Four-Colour Theorem.KEYWORDTYMOCZKO – QUASI-EMPIRICISM – EXPERIMENTAL MATHEMATICS – NON-RIGOROUS REASONING – COMPUTER-ASSISTED PROOF


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Eilers ◽  
Rune Johansen

Author(s):  
José Ferreirós

This book presents a new approach to the epistemology of mathematics by viewing mathematics as a human activity whose knowledge is intimately linked with practice. Charting an exciting new direction in the philosophy of mathematics, the book uses the crucial idea of a continuum to provide an account of the development of mathematical knowledge that reflects the actual experience of doing math and makes sense of the perceived objectivity of mathematical results. Describing a historically oriented, agent-based philosophy of mathematics, the book shows how the mathematical tradition evolved from Euclidean geometry to the real numbers and set-theoretic structures. It argues for the need to take into account a whole web of mathematical and other practices that are learned and linked by agents, and whose interplay acts as a constraint. It demonstrates how advanced mathematics, far from being a priori, is based on hypotheses, in contrast to elementary math, which has strong cognitive and practical roots and therefore enjoys certainty. Offering a wealth of philosophical and historical insights, the book challenges us to rethink some of our most basic assumptions about mathematics, its objectivity, and its relationship to culture and science.


Author(s):  
Mark Wilson

Influenced by Quine, self-styled naturalist projects within the philosophy of mathematics rest upon simplistic conceptions of linguistic reference and how the inferential tools of applied mathematics help us reach empirical conclusions. In truth, these two forms of descriptive enterprise must work together in a considerably more entangled manner than is generally presumed. In particular, the vital contributions of set theory to descriptive success within science have been poorly conceptualized. This essay explores how a less onerous “naturalism” can be conceived on this corrected basis. A useful distinction between “mathematical optimism” and “mathematical opportunism” is introduced, which draws our attention to some open questions with respect to the concrete representational capacities of applied mathematics.


Author(s):  
Lisa Shabel

The state of modern mathematical practice called for a modern philosopher of mathematics to answer two interrelated questions. Given that mathematical ontology includes quantifiable empirical objects, how to explain the paradigmatic features of pure mathematical reasoning: universality, certainty, necessity. And, without giving up the special status of pure mathematical reasoning, how to explain the ability of pure mathematics to come into contact with and describe the empirically accessible natural world. The first question comes to a demand for apriority: a viable philosophical account of early modern mathematics must explain the apriority of mathematical reasoning. The second question comes to a demand for applicability: a viable philosophical account of early modern mathematics must explain the applicability of mathematical reasoning. This article begins by providing a brief account of a relevant aspect of early modern mathematical practice, in order to situate philosophers in their historical and mathematical context.


Author(s):  
Charles Chihara

Undoubtedly, the most enlightening published work dedicated to giving knowledgeable readers an overview of the topic of nominalism in contemporary philosophy of mathematics is A Subject with No Object by John Burgess and Gideon Rosen. This article begins with a brief description of that work, in order to provide readers with a solidly researched account of nominalism with which the article's own account of nominalism can be usefully compared. The first part, then, briefly presents the Burgess–Rosen account. A contrasting account is given in the longer second part.


Erkenntnis ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holger Andreas ◽  
Georg Schiemer

AbstractIn this paper, we aim to explore connections between a Carnapian semantics of theoretical terms and an eliminative structuralist approach in the philosophy of mathematics. Specifically, we will interpret the language of Peano arithmetic by applying the modal semantics of theoretical terms introduced in Andreas (Synthese 174(3):367–383, 2010). We will thereby show that the application to Peano arithmetic yields a formal semantics of universal structuralism, i.e., the view that ordinary mathematical statements in arithmetic express general claims about all admissible interpretations of the Peano axioms. Moreover, we compare this application with the modal structuralism by Hellman (Mathematics without numbers: towards a modal-structural interpretation. Oxford University Press: Oxford, 1989), arguing that it provides us with an easier epistemology of statements in arithmetic.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document