What is at Stake in Mathematical Proofs from Third-Century China

Bibliographic Data

ID5141171
AuthorsKarine Chemla (0000-0002-2625-5736, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, corresponding author)
Year1997
Volume10
Issue2
Pages227-251
Publication date1997-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueScience in Context (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0269-8897 • E-ISSN: 1474-0664
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0269889700002647
OpenAlexW2149233779
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited5

The ArgumentTo highlight speculative trends specific to the mathematical tradition that developed in China, the paper analyzes an excerpt of a third-century commentary on a mathematical classic, which arguably contains a proof. The paper shows that the following three tasks cannot be dissociated one from the other: (1) to discuss how the ancient text should be read; (2) to describe the practice of mathematical proof to which this text bears witness; (3) to bring to light connections between philosophy and mathematics that it demonstrates were established in China. To this end the paper defines its use of the word "proof" and outlines a program for an international history of mathematical proof. It describes the sense in which the text conveys a proof and shows how it simultaneously fulfills algorithmic ends, bringing to light a formal pattern that appears to be fundamental both for mathematics and for other domains of reality. The interest in transformations that mathematical writings demonstrate in China at that time seems to have been influenced by philosophical developments based onThe Book of Changes (Yi-jing), which the excerpt quotes. This quotation within a mathematical context makes it possible to suggest an interpretation for a rather difficult philosophical statement

China · Epistemology · Mathematical practice · Mathematical proof · Mathematical theory · Philosophy of Mathematics · Political science · Programming language · Witness · Chemistry · Computer Science · History · History and Theory of Mathematics · Law · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy, Science, and History

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