FORMALIZING DARWINISM, NATURALIZING MATHEMATICS

Journal title PARADIGMI
Author/s Fabio Sterpetti
Publishing Year 2015 Issue 2015/2
Language Italian Pages 28 P. 133-160 File size 125 KB
DOI 10.3280/PARA2015-002009
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In the last decades two different and apparently unrelated lines of research have increasingly connected mathematics and evolutionism. Indeed, on the one hand different attempts to formalize darwinism have been made, while, on the other hand, different attempts to naturalize logic and mathematics have been put forward. Those researches may appear either to be completely distinct or at least in some way convergent. They may in fact both be seen as supporting a naturalistic stance. Evolutionism is indeed crucial for a naturalistic perspective, and formalizing it seems to be a way to strengthen its scientificity. The paper shows that, on the contrary, those directions of research may be seen as conflicting, since the conception of knowledge on which they rest may be undermined by the consequences of accepting an evolutionary perspective.

Keywords: knowledge, mathematics, naturalism, scientific realism, truth

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Fabio Sterpetti, FORMALIZING DARWINISM, NATURALIZING MATHEMATICS in "PARADIGMI" 2/2015, pp 133-160, DOI: 10.3280/PARA2015-002009