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"Eine grössere Harmonie zwischen Begriff und Bild": Eduard Study on mathematical freedom, language, and objectivity
German mathematician Eduard Study (1862-1930) was an outspoken critic of several emerging trends in modern mathematics at the turn of the century. Intuitionism, he argued, was in the process of eliminating the very notion of truth at the core of any serious scientific endeavour, whereas axiom-obsessed formalists engaged in a mere game of symbols, thereby losing sight of what really grants meaning and value to mathematical concepts. In rejecting both approaches, Study sought to maintain that mathematics was a science formed of freely-created concepts yet still possessed a specific form of objectivity, whose exploration crucially relied on the careful construction of symbolic languages.
To disentangle these claims, this talk will delve into Study’s unpublished, philosophical essay on the foundations of analysis, and compare it to the mathematical practice espoused in his 1903 Geometrie der Dynamen, a landmark volume in the history of kinematics.
Date:
12 June 2025, 14:30
Venue:
Mathematical Institute, Woodstock Road OX2 6GG
Venue Details:
Room C1
Speaker:
Nicolas Michel (Isaac Newton Institute, University of Cambridge & Open University)
Organising department:
Mathematical Institute
Organiser:
Christopher Hollings (University of Oxford)
Organiser contact email address:
christopher.hollings@maths.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
History of Mathematics Seminar
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Public
Editor:
Christopher Hollings
