Philosophy of Mathspeaking topic
Is mathematics discovered or invented? Where does the debate between mathematical Platonism and the view that math is a product of the human mind come from?
— the Platonism debate in the philosophy of mathematics
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- How has the division of infinity into 'actual infinity' and 'potential infinity' shaped the philosophy of mathematics ever since Aristotle?
- A small town can post both the highest and the lowest cancer rates in the country. The cause is not some hidden poison, just a small population. Why do small numbers produce both the extreme good and the extreme bad at once?
- Imagine three dice: die A beats B, B beats C, but C beats A. Like rock-paper-scissors, there is no 'best' one. Does 'stronger than' always have to be transitive?
- Why did Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise occupy mathematicians and philosophers for thousands of years, and is motion really possible?
- How does the Banach-Tarski paradox make it possible to cut a sphere into pieces and reassemble them into two identical spheres, and why is this a mathematical oddity rather than a physical one?