This module is not currently running in 2024 to 2025.
This module will cover three areas, namely the historical mutual influence of mathematics and philosophy from Ancient Greece to the 19th century; the foundational crisis 1880-1930; and; current issues in philosophy of mathematics. Thinkers and topics that might be covered include Pythagoras, Plato, Islamic world, Renaissance, Descartes, Berkeley, Kant, Hegel, Dedekind, Frege, Russell, Gödel, Wittgenstein's philosophy of mathematics, Lakatos' Proofs and Refutations, revolutions in mathematics, and the applicability of mathematics.
Total Contact Hours: 40
Also available at Level 5 (PL644)
• Seminar Participation – 15%
• Review Assignment (1,800 words) – 30%
• Essay (3,200 words) – 55%
Indicative Reading List
Aristotle (1989). Prior Analytics. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing
Benacerraf, P. and Putnam H., (eds.) (1984). Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Readings. Second Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Euclid (2002). Euclid's Elements. Santa Fe, N.M: Green Lion Press
Gillies, D. (ed.) (1995). Revolutions in Mathematics. Oxford: Oxford University Press
Jones, M. (2006). The Good Life in the Scientific Revolution: Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, and the Cultivation of Virtue. Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Plato (2007). The Republic. London: Penguin Classics
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module Level 6 students will be able to:
Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of some episodes in the history of the engagement between philosophy and mathematics;
Demonstrate coherent understanding of the philosophical issues at stake in the Foundational Crisis;
Outline rival accounts, demonstrating detailed and sustained understanding of their relative strengths and weaknesses, concerning some of the topics treated in Current Issues.
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