Main page of the IDM |
Universität Bielefeld |
Institut für Didaktik der Mathematik
deutsch |
Research Groups |
AG 4: Semiotic Epistemology
and Mathematics Education |
Research Group on Semiotic Epistemology
and Mathematics Education
The Research Group is a part of the Institut für Didaktik
der Mathematik at the University of Bielefeld. It studies
the development of knowledge in historical and epistemological
perspectives. The main interest is the relation between social
and object-centered aspects of learning processes. One important
thesis is that the process of learning mathematics can be used
as a paradigm for discussing major problems of epistemology. The
theoretical framework is provided by the philosophy of Charles
S. Peirce and, in particular, by his considerations on the concept
of sign, the process of generalization, and the role of continuity
within the latter. The following projects are in progress:
- Learning as a process of generalization (Michael Otte,
Michael Hoffmann).
- Peirce's Philosophy of Mathematics in
the Context of his "Evolutionary Realism". The Peircean
Principle of Continuity (Otte, Hoffmann). With respect to
the philosophy of mathematics, the thesis is that Peirce's emphasis
on the reality of generals, together with his semiotic model of
the processuality of generalization, offers the possibility for
a mathematical realism which is not reducible to the distinction
of Logicism, Formalism and Intuitionism. And with respect to philosophy,
the thesis is that the Peircean approach to the mathematical process
of generalization can be understood as a paradigm which may be
of special interest for problems of epistemology, ontology and
the development of social communities. Insofar as the concepts
of processuality and evolution are based on the possibility of
continuity, a main problem is the role of the concept of continuity
in Peirce's philosophy.
- The symmetry of subjectivity and
objectivity in scientific generalization. Studies concerning the
foundation of scientific rationality in the mathematical philosophy
of Charles S. Peirce and his followers (Otte, Thomas Mies,
Hoffmann).
- Didactical aspects in Wittgenstein's philosophy
of mathematics (Norbert Meder).
- The Axiomatization of
Arithmetic (Mircea Radu).
- The interdependence of logic,
ethics and aesthetics (Otte, Hoffmann).
For more information contact Prof. Dr. Michael Otte or Dr. Michael Hoffmann, Institut
für Didaktik der Mathematik, Universität Bielefeld,
Postfach 100131, D-33501 Bielefeld. E-mail: michael.otte@post.uni-bielefeld.de,
or: michael.hoffmann@post.uni-bielefeld.de.