Vagueness unlimited: In defence of a pragmatical approach to sorites paradoxes

As far as ‘modern’ logical theories of vagueness are concerned, a main distinction can be drawn between ‘semantical’ ones and ‘pragmatical’ ones. The latter are defended here, because they tend to retake into account important contextual dimensions of the problem abandoned by the former. Their inchoate condition seems not alarming, since they are of surprisingly recent date. This, however, could very well be an accidental explanation. That is, the true reason for it might sooner or later turn out to be bearing exactly on the fundamental human limitations, when it comes to theorizing, that these approaches are urging us to appreciate

Mathematical Explanation: A Contextual Approach

PurposeIn this article, we aim to present and defend a contextual approach to mathematical explanation.MethodTo do this, we introduce an epistemic reading of mathematical explanation.ResultsThe epistemic reading not only clarifies the link between mathematical explanation and mathematical understanding, but also allows us to explicate some contextual factors governing explanation. We then show how several accounts of mathematical explanation can be read in this approach.ConclusionThe contextual approach defended here clears up the notion of explanation and pushes us towards a pluralist vision on mathematical explanation

Mathematical Practice and Naturalist Epistemology: Structures with Potential for Interaction

In current philosophical research, there is a rather one-sided focus on the foundations of proof. A full picture of mathematical practice should however additionally involve considerations about various methodological aspects. A number of these is identified, from large-scale to small-scale ones. After that, naturalism, a philosophical school concerned with scientific practice, is looked at, as far as the translations of its epistemic principles to mathematics is concerned. Finally, we call for intensifying the interaction between both dimensions of practice and epistemology

Perspectives on mathematical practices: bringing together philosophy of mathematics, sociology of mathematics, and mathematics education

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 au

Vagueness-Adaptive Logic:

This paper defends a pragmatical approach to vagueness. The vaguenessadaptive logic VAL is a good reconstruction of and an excellent instrument for human reasoning processes in which vague predicates are involved. Apart from its proof-theory and semantics, a Sorites-treating model based on it is presented, disarming the paradox. The paper opens perspectives with respect to the construction of theories by means of vague predicates