Monday, March 29, 2010

Philosophical Perspectives on Mathematical Practice

I’m very happy to report that Philosophical Perspectives on Mathematical Practice—a book edited by Bart Van Kerkhove, Jean Paul Van Bendegem, and me—is now available to order.

Here’s the description from the backcover:
It has been observed many times before that, as yet, there are no encompassing, integrated theories of mathematical practice available. To witness, as we currently do, a variety of schools in this field elaborating their philosophical frameworks, and trying to sort out their differences in the course of doing so, is also to be constantly reminded of the fact that a lot of epistemic aspects, extremely relevant to this task, remain dramatically underexamined. This volume wants to contribute to the stock of studies filling this perceived lacuna. It contains papers by established, upcoming, as well as beginning scholars, covering general, metaphilosophical themes such as naturalism, semiotics, pragmaticism, or empiricism, next to more specific topics including the unity of mathematical theories, thruth-flow in mathematics, diagrammatic reasoning, erroneous argumentation, or numerical analysis.
The book contains the following essays:
    1. The Unity of Mathematics: Distinctive Characteristic or Exaggerated Claim? — John W. Dawson, Jr.
    2. Construction, Articulation, and Explanation: Phases in the Growth of Mathematics — Madeline Muntersbjorn
    3. Laplace, Lakatos, and Luck: Accommodating Extrinsic Justification in Quasi-Empiricism — Ian Dove
    4. Mathematical Concepts in Computer Proofs — Koen Vervloesem
    5. For a Philosophy of Mathematical Practice — Gianluigi Oliveri
    6. In or About Mathematics? Concerning Some Versions of Mathematical Naturalism — José Ferreirós
    7. Pragmaticism as an Anti-Foundationalist Philosophy of Mathematics — Ahti-Veikko Pietarinen
    8. Mathematical Knowledge as a Case Study in Empirical Philosophy of Mathematics — Benedikt Löwe, Thomas Müller, and Eva Müller-Hill
    9. Who Speaks Mathematics? A Semiotic Case Study — Roy Wagner
    10. Diagrammatic Reasoning in Euclid’s Elements — Danielle Macbeth
    11. Observations on Sick Mathematics — Andrew Aberdein
    12. Two Types of Mathematization — Johannes Lenhard and Michael Otte
    13. Numerical Analysis and Its (Invisible?) Role in Mathematical Application — Anthony F. Peressini
    The bibliographical details are as follows:
    Bart Van Kerkhove, Jonas De Vuyst, and Jean Paul Van Bendegem (eds.). 2010. Philosophical Perspectives on Mathematical Practice. In: Texts in Philosophy, vol. 12. London: College Publications. ISBN 978-1-904987-59-8.
    You can also look it up at Amazon or College Publications.