SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM AS A PHILOSOPHY OF MATHEMATICS: CONSTRUCTIVISM REHABILITATED?

Author(s): PAUL ERNEST
Journal: Review of Contemporary Philosophy
ISSN: 1841-5261
Year: 2007
Volume: 6
Issue: 1
Full text: http://denbridgepress.com/rcp_abstract.php?a=49
Publisher: Denbridge Press - New York
Abstract: ABSTRACT. Epistemological issues, although controversial, are central to teaching and learning and have long been a theme of PME. A central epistemological issue is that of the philosophy of mathematics. It is argued that the traditional absolutist philosophies need to be replaced by a conceptual change view of mathematics. Building on the principles of radical constructivism together with the assumption of the existence of the physical and social worlds, a social constructivist philosophy of mathematics is proposed. This suggests an explanation of both the apparent objectivity and the utility of mathematics. A consequence is that the criticism that radical constructivism is necessarily solipsistic is overcome.