Open AccessMathematics in the middle: The relationship between measurement and metamorphic matter
Author(s) -
Elizabeth de Freitas
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
matter
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2604-7551
DOI - 10.1344/jnmr.v2i2.35888
Subject(s) - materialism , subject matter , epistemology , mathematics education , subject (documents) , philosophy , mathematics , sociology , computer science , pedagogy , curriculum , library science
This paper revisits philosophical questions regarding the relationship between mathematics and matter. I briefly present four contrary and contemporary perspectives on the speculative force of mathematics, as a provocation for further discussion on the subject of sciento-metrics. I first consider the ideas of the philosopher Quentin Meillassoux, as a way of setting the stage for various kinds of materialist philosophies of mathematics. I then turn to the ideas of two mathematicians - Fernando Zalamea and Giuseppe Longo - and a computer scientist - Gregory Chaitin - and explore how their discussions of contemporary mathematical practice offer important insight (and twist) regarding the relationship between mathematics and matter.