Related papers: Ren{\'e} Thom: From mathematics to philosophy
Ren{\'e} Thom discovered several refined topological notions in the writings of Aristotle, especially the biological. More generally, he considered that some of the assertions of the Greek philosophers have a definite topological content,…
Riemann's mathematical papers contain many ideas that arise from physics, and some of them are motivated by problems from physics. In fact, it is not easy to separate Riemann's ideas in mathematics from those in physics. Furthermore,…
This essay traces the history of three interconnected strands. Firstly, changes in the concept of number, secondly, the study of the qualities of number, which evolved into number theory, and thirdly, the nature of mathematics itself, from…
This essay inquires how mathematical beings could be inserted into the architecture of modes of existence proposed by Bruno Latour in the framework of his pluralist and renewed ontology of the modern world. After a description of the…
This is the introduction I wrote for the multi-authored book "From Riemann to differential geometry and relativity", edited by L. Ji, A. Papadopoulos and S. Yamada (Berlin, Springer verlag, 2017). The book consists of twenty chapters,…
Mathematics cannot anymore be assimilated to a linguistic game, where formal proofs are strongly differentiated with conjectural thinking, without building any category of knowledge to understand the passage (Wittgenstein's gist). Nowadays,…
This text is a commentary on the paper "On some ideals of differentiable functions" of Ren{\'e} Thom which appeared in Volume II of his "Oeuvres Math{\'e}matiques" published by the Soci{\'e}t{\'e} math{\'e}matique de France, s{\'e}rie…
This essay examines the relationship between artificial intelligence and the historical evolution of modern Mathematics. Rather than viewing AI as an external rupture, we argue that its effectiveness reveals a structural tendency already…
This paper examines various methods and ideas for humanizing mathematics. The term 'humanizing mathematics' which includes elements of 'aesthetic mathematics' refers to approaches that emphasize the aesthetic, philosophical, and subjective…
This paper attributes the sudden emergence of mathematical probability and statistics in the second half of the seventeenth century to Calvin's Reformed theology. Calvin accommodated Epicurean chance with Stoic determinism and synthesised…
This book is the final version of a course on algorithmic information theory and the epistemology of mathematics and physics. This is camera-ready copy prepared for publication as a book, but at the last minute I decided to publish it…
This essay considers the special character of mathematical reasoning, and draws on observations from interactive theorem proving and the history of mathematics to clarify the nature of formal and informal mathematical language. It proposes…
Based on Plato's Timaeus, we present some reflections on music, cosmology and mathematics and their mutual influence.The article is dedicated to the composer Walter Zimmermann. The final version of this article will appear in the volume…
The aim of this paper is i) to argue for the feasibility and fruitfulness of a balance between the phenomenological method seeking intuitive evidence and the axiomatic-deductive method and ii) that there should be a mutual understanding…
As the etymology of the word shows, logic is intimately related to language, as exemplified by the work of philosophers from Antiquity and from the Middle-Age. At the beginning of the XX century, the crisis of the foundations of mathematics…
This paper presents mathematics as a general science of computation in a way different from the tradition. It is based on the radical philosophical standpoint according to which the content, meaning and justification of experience lies in…
This article analyzes the emerging ethical turn in mathematics education, arguing that it is a nuanced extension of the sociopolitical turn. While sociopolitical studies of mathematics have highlighted systemic issues and group concerns…
The chapter advances a reformulation of the classical problem of the nature of mathematical objects (if any), here called "Plato's problem," in line with the program of a philosophy of mathematical practice. It then provides a sketch of a…
Starting from Greg Moore's description about Physical Mathematics, a framework is proposed in order to understand it, based on Gilles Ch\^atelet's philosophy. It will be argued that Ch\^atelet's ideas of inverting, splitting, augmenting and…
I offer a revisionist interpretation of Galileo's role in the history of science. My overarching thesis is that Galileo lacked technical ability in mathematics, and that this can be seen as directly explaining numerous aspects of his life's…