CfA: 30th Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics
Call for Abstracts: 30th Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics
“Mathematical Cultures, Values and Norms”
31th October - 2nd November 2019, Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée (IRMA), Strasbourg, France
The
Novembertagung on the History and Philosophy of Mathematics is an
annual international conference aimed at PhD and postdoctoral students
(young scholars) in the history and philosophy of mathematics.
In
2019 the Novembertagung will be held in Strasbourg. Lodging will be at
the CIARUS from 30/10 to 02/11 and the conferences at the IRMA, from
31/10 to 02/11. The invited speakers are June Barrow-Green (Open University) and Roy Wagner (ETH Zurich).
Mathematical
knowledge is commonly thought of as being essentially universal: its
truths are eternal and incontrovertible, its propositions understandable
and agreeable by all, independent of linguistic, cultural, ethnic or
religious backgrounds, its formulation and validation requiring little
more than pen and paper. However, global knowledge, as mathematics seems
to be, is always produced locally. As such, it hinges upon collectively
shared ways of practicing, writing, and communicating mathematics. This
year’s Novembertagung invites participants to reflect broadly on one or
several of the following questions:
- How can we characterize
mathematical communities and cultures? What historiographical and
epistemological categories should one use when describing these shared
ways of doing mathematics?
- How does mathematical knowledge circulate between these communities?
- What role do values and norms, be it epistemic, aesthetic or political, play in the shaping of mathematical cultures?
- What role do values and norms play in shaping the individual mathematician and his work ?
- How can historians and philosophers evaluate the impact of these cultural aspects on the mathematics being produced?
Contributions
less strictly related to this theme are also welcome; however,
establishing links with the theme will allow for more fruitful
discussions, and as such is recommended. We are happy to host
presentations pertaining to historical, historiographical, or
philosophical discussions of this theme.
Abstracts, of around 250 words, should be submitted by May 15th 2019, via the submission form. If you have any questions, you can contact the organisers via mail: novembertagung2019[at]math[
The
conference is organised by Paul Hasselkuß (Düsseldorf), Tiago Hirth
(Lisbon), Deborah Kant (Konstanz), Rosie Lev-Halutz (Tel Aviv), Nicolas
Michel (Paris, Sphere), Gatien Ricotier (Strasbourg) and Benjamin Wilk
(HU Berlin).
For now, the 30th Novembertagung is graciously supported by the GDR 3398 “Histoire des mathématiques”, the Labex IRMIA and the Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée (IRMA).