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Mathematics Commons

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Arts and Humanities

Otterbein University

Mathematics

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Mathematics

Mathematics As Worship, David J. Stucki Jan 2001

Mathematics As Worship, David J. Stucki

Mathematics Faculty Scholarship

This paper treats worship in a broad, inclusive sense as the primary and necessary response of human beings to their creator. It provides a brief overview of the relationship between mathematics and theology from the Pythagoreans to the present. It argues that all knowledge is contingent upon faith and thus that contemplation of mathematical insights can lead to worship of God.


The Deconstruction Of Mathematics: A Criticism Of Reuben Hersh's What Is Mathematics, Really? And The Humanist Philosophy Of Mathematics, David J. Stucki Jan 1999

The Deconstruction Of Mathematics: A Criticism Of Reuben Hersh's What Is Mathematics, Really? And The Humanist Philosophy Of Mathematics, David J. Stucki

Mathematics Faculty Scholarship

Mathematics, as an academic discipline, has stood for many years as the last bastion against a growing tide of intellectual relativism that has become all but ubiquitous. More recently, however, efforts have been made to "humanize" mathematics by advocating a social-constructivist approach to the philosophy of mathematics, both in practice and education. This paper is intended to serve as a critical response to one advocate of this approach, Reuben Hersh (What Is Mathematics, Really?, 1997), and in the process a defense of Platonism.