Ashton, Zoe (2020) Audience Role in Mathematical Proof Development. [Preprint]

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Abstract

The role of audiences in mathematical proof has largely been neglected, in part due to misconceptions like those in Perelman & Olbrechts-Tyteca (1969) which bar mathematical proofs from bearing reflections of audience consideration. In this paper, I argue that mathematical proof is typically argumentation and that a mathematician develops a proof with his universal audience in mind. In so doing, he creates a proof which reflects the standards of reasonableness embodied in his universal audience. Given this framework, we
can better understand the introduction of proof methods based on the mathematician's likely universal audience. I examine a case study from Alexander and Briggs's work on knot invariants to show that we can fruitfully reconstruct mathematical methods in terms of audiences.

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Item Type:	Preprint
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Ashton, Zoe ashton.95@osu.edu 0000-0003-2188-6114
Keywords:	Argumentation, Mathematical Practice, Proof, Deduction, Formal Derivation, Knot Theory, Audience
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Practice Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Proof Specific Sciences > Mathematics
Depositing User:	Unnamed user with email ashton.95@osu.edu
Date Deposited:	05 Mar 2020 18:01
Last Modified:	05 Mar 2020 18:01
Item ID:	16976
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Practice Specific Sciences > Mathematics > Proof Specific Sciences > Mathematics
Date:	2020
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/16976

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