While we are commonly told that the distinctive method of mathematics
is rigorous proof, and that the special topic of mathematics is
abstract structure, there has been no agreement among mathematicians,
logicians, or philosophers as to just what either of these assertions
means. John P. Burgess clarifies the nature of mathematical rigor and
of mathematical structure, and above all of the relation between the
two, taking into account some of the latest developments in
mathematics, including the rise of experimental mathematics on the one
hand and computerized formal proofs on the other hand. The main theses
of Rigor and Structure are that the features of mathematical practice
that a large group of philosophers of mathematics, the structuralists,
have attributed to the peculiar nature of mathematical objects are
better explained in a different way, as artefacts of the manner in
which the ancient ideal of rigor is realized in modern mathematics.
Notably, the mathematician must be very careful in deriving new
results from the previous literature, but may remain largely
indifferent to just how the results in the previous literature were
obtained from first principles. Indeed, the working mathematician may
remain largely indifferent to just what the first principles are
supposed to be, and whether they are set-theoretic or
category-theoretic or something else. Along the way to these
conclusions, a great many historical developments in mathematics,
philosophy, and logic are surveyed. Yet very little in the way of
background knowledge on the part of the reader is presupposed.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780191033605
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Academic UK
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter