Jean Paul Van Bendegem – författare

This book brings together diverse recent developments exploring philosophy of mathematics in education. The unique combination of ethnomathematics, philosophy, history, education, statistics and mathematics offers a variety of different perspectives from which existing boundaries in mathematics education can be extended. The ten chapters in this book offer a balance between philosophy of and philosophy in mathematics education. Attention is paid to the implementation of a philosophy of mathematics within the mathematics curriculum to become a philosophy in mathematics education. In doing so, many chapters provide ideas for actual practice and some practical examples directly usable in teacher training and in mathematics classrooms.

The aim of the series Logic, Epistemology, and the Unity of Science, of which this is the first volume, is to take up anew the challenge of considering the scientific enterprise in its entirety in light of recent developments in logic and philosophy. Developments in logic are especially relevant to the current situation in philosophy of science. At present, there is no single logic, single approach to semantics or well-defined conception of scientific method dominating the philosophy of science. At the same time, questions concerning linguistic, reductionist and foundationalist approaches to epistemology, the analytic and synthetic distinction as well as disputes concerning semantics and pragmatics have been illuminated by recent developments in logic. Given the power of such developments, discussions of the unity of science are even more intriguing and urgent than in the 20th century. The first title in this new series aims to explore, through extensive co-operation, new ways of achieving the integration of science in all its diversity. The present volume contains essays from some of the most important and influential philosophers in contemporary philosophy, discussing a range of topics such as philosophy of science, epistemology, philosophy of logic and game theoretical approaches. It will be of great interest to philosophers, computer scientists and all others interested in the scientific rationality.

For the first time in history, scholars working on language and culture from within an evolutionary epistemological framework, and thereby emphasizing complementary or deviating theories of the Modern Synthesis, were brought together. Of course there have been excellent conferences on Evolutionary Epistemology in the past, as well as numerous conferences on the topics of Language and Culture. However, until now these disciplines had not been brought together into one all-encompassing conference.

Moreover, previously there never had been such stress on alternative and complementary theories of the Modern Synthesis. Today we know that natural selection and evolution are far from synonymous and that they do not explain isomorphic phenomena in the world. ‘Taking Darwin seriously’ is the way to go, but today the time has come to take alternative and complementary theories that developed after the Modern Synthesis, equally seriously, and, furthermore, to examine how language and culture can merit from these diverse disciplines.

As this volume will make clear, a specific inter- and transdisciplinary approach is one of the next crucial steps that needs to be taken, if we ever want to unravel the secrets of phenomena such as language and culture.

Philosophy of mathematics today has transformed into a very complex network of diverse ideas, viewpoints, and theories. Sometimes the emphasis is on the "classical" foundational work (often connected with the use of formal logical methods), sometimes on the sociological dimension of the mathematical research community and the "products" it produces, then again on the education of future mathematicians and the problem of how knowledge is or should be transmitted from one generation to the next.

The editors of this book felt the urge, first of all, to bring together the widest variety of authors from these different domains and, secondly, to show that this diversity does not exclude a sufficient number of common elements to be present. In the eyes of the editors, this book will be considered a success if it can convince its readers of the following: that it is warranted to dream of a realistic and full-fledged theory of mathematical practices, in the plural. If such a theory is possible, it would mean that a number of presently existing fierce oppositions between philosophers, sociologists, educators, and other parties involved, are in fact illusory.