{"title":"Mathematical Progress — On Maddy and Beyond","authors":"Simon Weisgerber","doi":"10.1093/philmat/nkac019","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"A key question of the ‘maverick’ tradition of the philosophy of mathematical practice is addressed, namely what is mathematical progress. The investigation is based on an article by Penelope Maddy devoted to this topic in which she considers only contributions ‘of some mathematical importance’ as progress. With the help of a case study from contemporary mathematics, more precisely from tropical geometry, a few issues with her proposal are identified. Taking these issues into consideration, an alternative account of ‘mathematical importance’, broadly within the framework of progress Maddy offers, is developed with a special focus on mathematicians’ peer-review practice.","PeriodicalId":49004,"journal":{"name":"Philosophia Mathematica","volume":"31 1","pages":"1-28"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2022-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel7/8016814/10056759/10056762.pdf","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Philosophia Mathematica","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10056762/","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
A key question of the ‘maverick’ tradition of the philosophy of mathematical practice is addressed, namely what is mathematical progress. The investigation is based on an article by Penelope Maddy devoted to this topic in which she considers only contributions ‘of some mathematical importance’ as progress. With the help of a case study from contemporary mathematics, more precisely from tropical geometry, a few issues with her proposal are identified. Taking these issues into consideration, an alternative account of ‘mathematical importance’, broadly within the framework of progress Maddy offers, is developed with a special focus on mathematicians’ peer-review practice.
期刊介绍:
Philosophia Mathematica is the only journal in the world devoted specifically to philosophy of mathematics. The journal publishes peer-reviewed new work in philosophy of mathematics, the application of mathematics, and computing. In addition to main articles, sometimes grouped on a single theme, there are shorter discussion notes, letters, and book reviews. The journal is published online-only, with three issues published per year.