Abstract

This volume of essays addresses the main problem confronting an epistemology for mathematics; namely, the nature and sources of mathematical justification. Attending to both particular and general issues, the essays, by leading philosophers of mathematics, raise important issues for our current understanding of mathematics. Is mathematical justification a priori or a posteriori? What role, if any, does logic play in mathematical reasoning or inference? And of what epistemological importance is the formalizability of proof? The editor, Michael Detlefsen, has brought together an outstanding collection of essays, only one of which has previously appeared. It will be essential for philosophers and historians of mathematics, as well as philosophically inclined logicians and philosophers interested in the nature of reasoning and justification. A companion volume entitled Proof, Logic and Formalization, edited by Michael Detlefsen, is also available from Routledge.