Mizrahi, Moti (2020) Proof, Explanation, and Justification in Mathematical Practice. [Preprint]
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Abstract
In this paper, I propose that applying the methods of data science to “the problem of whether mathematical explanations occur within mathematics itself” (Mancosu 2018) might be a fruitful way to shed new light on the problem. By carefully selecting indicator words for explanation and justification, and then systematically searching for these indicators in databases of scholarly works in mathematics, we can get an idea of how mathematicians use these terms in mathematical practice and with what frequency. The results of this empirical study suggest that mathematical explanations do occur in research articles published in mathematics journals, as indicated by the occurrence of explanation indicators. When compared with the use of justification indicators, however, the data suggest that justifications occur much more frequently than explanations in scholarly mathematical practice. The results also suggest that justificatory proofs occur much more frequently than explanatory proofs, thus suggesting that proof may be playing a larger justificatory role than an explanatory role in scholarly mathematical practice.
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| Item Type: | Preprint | ||||||
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| Additional Information: | Journal for General Philosophy of Science | ||||||
| Keywords: | corpus linguistics; data science; explanation; justification; mathematical practice; proof; text mining | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Data Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Explanation Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Practice Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Proof General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Mathematics |
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| Depositing User: | Dr. Moti Mizrahi | ||||||
| Date Deposited: | 08 Jul 2020 14:08 | ||||||
| Last Modified: | 08 Jul 2020 14:08 | ||||||
| Item ID: | 17440 | ||||||
| Subjects: | General Issues > Data Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Explanation Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Practice Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Proof General Issues > Explanation Specific Sciences > Mathematics |
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| Date: | 6 July 2020 | ||||||
| URI: | https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/17440 |
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