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Siete allergici ai numeri? Questo libro fa per voi. Usando un linguaggio semplice e diretto, l'autore ci convince come la matematica sia un prodotto della cultura umana, assai diversa dall'idea comune che la tratta come un "mondo immutabile", virtualmente separato da quello umano. Passando in rassegna le posizioni delle tradizionali scuole di filosofia della matematica, mettendone in luce le incongruenze e i paradossi, Hersh mostra che la matematica sia da intendere come un fenomeno storico-sociale, ossia come una componente fondamentale della nostra storia e della nostra evoluzione. Gli "oggetti matematici" sono creazioni umane, non arbitrarie, che nascono dall'attività e dai bisogni della vita di tutti i giorni. Hersh ci svela il "dietro le quinte" della matematica, e come la vedono i suoi professionisti, smontando alcuni tra i più radicati miti matematici, per farci comprendere come la regina delle scienze esatte abbia in realtà un animo umanista. Fornisce, poi, un'affascinante storia delle più importanti correnti filosofiche, da Pitagora a Quine; a loro oppone il filone degli "umanisti" , da Aristotele a Wittgenstein, che vedono la matematica come una creazione umana. Contrario al platonismo, ma anche a una visione elitaria della matematica, Hersh è un fiero sostenitore della "matemtica per tutti" e del bisogno di premere perché l'accesso alla conoscenza e alla cultura sia un diritto universale. Un libro sovversivo, fortemente iconoclasta, ma che sicuramente susciterà fervidi dibattiti in tutti gli appassionati di matematica e filosofia della scienza.
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What Is Mathematics, Really?
1997, Oxford University Press, Incorporated
in English
0198027362 9780198027362
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Virtually all philosophers treat mathematics as isolated, timeless, ahistorical, inhuman. In What Is Mathematics, Really? renowned mathematician Reuben Hersh argues the contrary. In a subversive attack on traditional philosophies of mathematics, most notably Platonism and formalism, he shows that mathematics must be understood as a human activity, a social phenomenon, part of human culture, historically evolved, and intelligible only in a social context.
Mathematical objects are created by humans, not arbitrarily, but from activity with existing mathematical objects, and from the needs of science and daily life.
Hersh pulls the screen back to reveal mathematics as seen by professionals, debunking many mathematical myths, and demonstrating how the "humanist" idea of the nature of mathematics more closely resembles how mathematicians actually work. The humanist standpoint helps him to resolve ancient controversies about proof, certainty, and invention versus discovery.
The second half of the book provides a fascinating history of the "mainstream" of philosophy - ranging from Pythagoras, Plato, Descartes, Spinoza, and Kant, to Bertrand Russell, Hilbert, Carnap, and Quine. Then come the mavericks who saw mathematics as a human artifact - Aristotle, Locke, Hume, Mill, Peirce, Dewey, Wittgenstein.
In his epilogue, Hersh reveals that this is no mere armchair debate, of little consequence to the outside world. Platonism and elitism fit together naturally. Humanism, on the other hand, links mathematics with people, with society, and with history. It fits with liberal anti-elitism and its historical striving for universal literacy, universal higher education, and universal access to knowledge and culture. Thus Hersh's argument has educational and political consequences.
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