Special issue Axiomathes
Explanation and Understanding within Mathematics Guest Editor: Joachim Frans
Philosophers of mathematics, certainly in the last decades, have tried to understand
and evaluate the idea that mathematicians can be interested in more than the
justification of mathematical results. Mathematicians can be interested, among other
things, in explaining or understanding mathematical results. A small yet growing body of
literature deals with analyzing what it could mean that something in mathematics has
explanatory value, for example by looking at the notion of explanatory proof. Others
have proposed to explicate the notion of mathematical understanding. Following recent
trends in the philosophy of science, it can also be fruitful to investigate explanation and
understanding more intimately. The objective of this issue is to continue these recent
traditions by bringing together new philosophical insights into the nature of explanation
and understanding within mathematics.
We invite contributions that deal with topics such as:
• The explanatory value of mathematical proofs
• Mathematical explanation beyond proof
• Mathematical understanding
• The relation between mathematical explanation and understanding
• The relation between explanation/understanding and other mathematical values
(e.g., simplicity, beauty, depth)
• Case studies from the practice or history of mathematics
• The fruitfulness of accounts of scientific explanation/understanding in philosophy of
mathematics
The deadline for submission is June 15th 2020. A standard refereeing process will
apply.
Papers should be submitted via the Axiomathes editorial manager
at https://www.editorialmanager.com/axio
When preparing your paper, please read the journal’s ‘Instructions for authors’
at https://www.springer.com/journal/10516/submission-guidelines.
For further information, please contact Joachim Frans (jfrans@vub.be).
6/15/2021
