The philosophy of mathematical practice / Paolo Mancosu.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mancosu, Paolo, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Mathematical analysis--Foundations.

Mathematical analysis.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xi, 447 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2008.

Summary:

There is an urgent need in philosophy of mathematics for new approaches which pay closer attention to mathematical practice. This book will blaze the trail: it offers philosophical analyses of important characteristics of contemporary mathematics and of many aspects of mathematical activity which escape purely formal logical treatment.

Contents:

1. Visualizing in Mathematics

2. Cognition of Structure

3. Diagram-Based Geometric Practice

4. The Euclidean Diagram (1995)

5. Mathematical Explanation: Why it Matters

6. Beyond Unification

7. Purity as an Ideal of Proof

8. Reflections on the Purity of Method in Hilbert's Grundlagen der Geometrie

9. Mathematical Concepts and Definitions

10. Mathematical Concepts: Fruitfulness and Naturalness

11. Computers in Mathematical Inquiry

12. Understanding Proofs

13. What Structuralism Achieves

14. 'There is No Ontology Here': Visual and Structural Geometry in Arithmetic

15. The Boundary Between Mathematics and Physics

16. Mathematics and Physics: Strategies of Assimilation.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on metadata supplied by the publisher and other sources.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9786611718053

9780191559099

0191559091

9780191711961

0191711969

9780199640102

0199640106

9781281718051

128171805X

OCLC:

437096366