?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=What+do+mathematicians+teach+us+about+the+World+%3F+An+anthropological+perspective&rft.creator=Jorion%2C+Paul&rft.subject=Epistemology&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Science&rft.description=The+activity+of+mathematicians+is+examined+here+in+an+anthropological+perspective.+The+task+effectively+performed+reveals+that%2C+independently+of+their+own+representation%2C+mathematicians+produce+in+actuality+a+%C2%AB+virtual+physics+%C2%BB.+The+principles+of+demonstrative+proof+as+described+and+assessed+by+Aristotle%2C+are+first+introduced%2C+displaying+a+latitude+in+the+demonstrative+methodology+open+to+mathematicians%2C+with+modes+of+proof+ranging+from+the+compelling+to+the+plausible+only.+Even+such+leeway+in+the+matter+of+proof+has+been+felt+at+times+by+mathematicians+as+an+intolerable+constraint.+The+proof+by+reductio+ad+absurdum+is+shown+to+be+by-passable+and+effectively+by-passed+by+mathematicians.+The+calculus+is+examined+which+Morris+Kline+characterized+both+as+%C2%AB+the+most+original+and+most+fruitful+concept+in+all+of+mathematics+%C2%BB+and+being+plagued+by+a+lack+of+mathematical+rigor.+The+reason+for+this+is+that+the+world+in+its+very+build+forced+the+calculus+to+be+what+it+became%2C+at+times+in+contradiction+with+the+mathematical+code+of+practice.+The+mathematician+enters+the+world+of+mathematics+armed+with+his+intuition+of+how+the+world+at+large+operates.+This+he+imports+within+mathematics+and+designs+mathematical+objects+with+an+in-built+%C2%AB+virtually+physical+%C2%BB+plausibility.+The+culture+around+him+is+impatient+with+mathematics+which+do+not+find+their+way+to+providing+models.+A+double+system+of+constraints%2C+both+inner+and+outer%2C+contribute+at+making+mathematics+a+%C2%AB+virtual+physics+%C2%BB.&rft.date=1999-03&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=text%2Fhtml&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F385%2F1%2FMathem.html&rft.identifier=++Jorion%2C+Paul++(1999)+What+do+mathematicians+teach+us+about+the+World+%3F+An+anthropological+perspective.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F385%2F