![]() In this way, Fermat found mathematical problems with which he challenged by letter other intellectuals such as Descartes and Pascal. He studied the treatises of the scholars of classical Greece and combined those old ideas with the new methods of algebra by François Viète (1540-1603). In the afternoons, Fermat would put the law to one side and dedicate himself to deepening his mathematical investigations. The son of a wealthy leather merchant, Pierre de Fermat ( between 31 October and 6 December 1607 – 12 January 1665) studied civil law at the University of Orleans and progressed in his judicial career path until reaching a comfortable position in the Parliament of Toulouse, which allowed him to spend his spare time on his great love: mathematics. At the heart of that intense postal exchange was Pierre de Fermat, an enthusiast who became one of the most greatest mathematicians of all time, known both for his discoveries and for a final problem that he left unsolved and that for three centuries confounded everyone who tried to solve it-until a boy read the history of Fermat’s Last Theorem and dreamed of finding the solution. And from those letters and challenges were born new disciplines of that science, like the theory of probabilities or infinitesimal calculus. It was in France, at the beginning of the 17th century, when the habit of challenging oneself to solve problems and numerical puzzles spread among the intellectual elite. (Interestingly enough, Bell refers not only to Leibniz but to Cohen, and to the view that infinitesimals are “intensive quantities”-not to claim that Smooth Infinitesimal Analysis is what they had in mind, but rather by way of adding a philosophical gloss to the mathematics: Cohen’s interpretation of infinitesimals is “pre-adapted” to a mathematical model that was, perhaps, partly inspired by it.There was a time when mathematics flourished thanks to some passionate relationships by letter. If one likens Leibniz’s dx to the elements of the ring of infinitesimals Δ described above, that may help the modern reader, not to grasp what Leibniz actually had in mind, but to emulate his thought by evoking d analogous lines of thought in Smooth Infinitesimal Analysis. For them analogies with current concepts may be helpful the key here is to remember that they are analogies, not identities. Who is the historian writing for, after all? Not Leibniz or his contemporaries, but for “us”, one’s egocentrically defined audience of fellow specialists and fellow philosophers. ![]() Like cicerones of every sort, the historian needs to be flexible. Sharing success stories and providing models how to address gender issues in philosophy.īut understanding Leibniz is not only a matter of grasping his intentions it is, for us, a matter also of bringing what he said into our discourse and here the “teaching” may go in either direction. What we're doing about what it's like (to be a woman in philosophy).Group blog of notable political science / political theory scholars.Īiming to tame currency market volatility and provide funds for basic human needs. Strategies and resources for teaching philosophy courses, especially at the introductory level Petition in Support of the Gendered Conference CampaignĪ coalition of groups in Albany, NY committed to the defense of publicly-funded state education.The philosophy profession's finest news sourceĪ forum for philosophers and other scholars to discuss current work and current affairs with race and gender in mind.Ĭoncrete steps to fighting implicit biases in the profession. "a space where disabled philosophers can declare themselves in some way, if they choose to do so"Ĭonflicts and transformations of the university APA Committee on the Status of Women blogrollĪ list of lists, blogs, and wikis devoted to women philosophersĪ broad-based campaign to fight withdrawal of public funding for Arts and Humanities courses.Notes about sexism and how it's being fought. ![]() "What is it like to be a woman in philosophy?" (blog).
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