Open Book Publishers

5. Dehumanisation through mathematics

David Kollosche(author)

Chapter of: Breaking Images: Iconoclastic Analyses of Mathematics and its Education(pp. 105–144)

Export Metadata

Raw

Metadata
Title	5. Dehumanisation through mathematics
Contributor	David Kollosche(author)
DOI	https://doi.org/10.11647/obp.0407.05
Landing page	https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0407/chapters/10.11647/obp.0407.05
License	https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Copyright	David Kollosche
Publisher	Open Book Publishers
Published on	2024-12-11
Long abstract	Mathematics can be seen as a project of dehumanisation in the sense that it allows us to work with a disregard for personal uniqueness. While the word ‘dehumanisation’ has a negative connotation and invites us to study this property of mathematics carefully, dehumanisation is also one of the great strengths of mathematics and has proved invaluable for modern society. We will trace this f ield of tension along two indisputable ingredients of mathematics activity: calculation and logic. As there is enough literature praising mathematics, we allow ourselves to take a more critical stance towards dehumanisation through mathematics. We end with a sceptical discussion on whether mathematics can be rehumanised.
Page range	pp. 105–144
Print length	40 pages
Language	English (Original)

Locations
	Landing Page	Full text URL	Platform
PDF	https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0407/chapters/10.11647/obp.0407.05	Landing page	https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0407.05.pdf	Full text URL
HTML	https://www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.11647/obp.0407/chapters/10.11647/obp.0407.05	Landing page	https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0407/ch5.xhtml	Full text URL	Publisher Website

Contributors

David Kollosche

(author)

Full Professor for Mathematics Education Research at University of Klagenfurt

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1055-2418

David Kollosche is a full professor for mathematics education research at the University of Klagenfurt in Austria. He teaches mathematics, history of mathematics, philosophy of mathematics, and mathematics education to prospective secondary school teachers. His research focusses on theoretical foundations of mathematics education, the epistemology of mathematics, the sociology of mathematics education, and students’ perspectives on mathematics education.

References

Anaximander. (2007). Fragmente. In M. L. Gemelli Marciano (Ed.), Die Vorsokratiker. Band 1 (pp. 32–51). Artemis & Winkler.
Aristotle. (trans. 1933). Metaphysics. Harvard University Press.
Aristotle. (trans. 1934). Nicomachean ethics. Harvard University Press.
Aristotle. (trans. 1989). Prior analytics. Hackett.
Bauman, Z. (1989). Modernity and the Holocaust. Polity Press.
Bell, A. (2016). Wem schenken wir das Herz? Gerechtigkeit in der Spenderorganallokation [Whom do we give the heart to? Justice in donor organ allocation]. In P.-C. Chittilappilly (Ed.), Horizonte gegenwärtiger Ethik (pp. 553–567). Herder.
Bishop, A. J. (1988). Mathematical enculturation: A cultural perspective on mathematics education. Kluwer.
Cervantes, M. de. (1605). El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha [The ingenious gentleman Don Quixote of la Mancha]. Francisco de Robles.
Chace, A. B., Bull, L., & Manning, H. P. (1929). The Rhind mathematical papyrus. Oberlin.
Chemla, K. (2012). Historiography and history of mathematical proof: A research programme. In K. Chemla (Ed.), The history of mathematical proof in ancient traditions (pp. 1–68). Cambridge University Press.
Davis, P. J. (2012). Applied mathematics old and new. In P. J. Davis & R. Hersh (Eds.), The mathematical experience (pp. 490–492). Birkhäuser.
Davis, P. J., & Hersh, R. (1980). The mathematical experience. Birkhäuser.
Davis, P. J., & Hersh, R. (1986). Descartes’ dream: The world according to mathematics. Harvester.
Desrosières, A. (1993). La politique des grands nombres: Histoire de la raison statistique [The politics of large numbers: A history of statistical reasoning]. Anthropologie des sciences et des techniques. La Découverte.
Dowling, P. (1998). The sociology of mathematics education: Mathematical myths / pedagogic texts. Falmer.
Ernest, P. (2016). The problem of certainty in mathematics. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 92(3), 379–393. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10649-015-9651-x
Fischer, R. (2001). Mathematik und Bürokratie [Mathematics and bureaucracy]. In K. Lengnink, S. Prediger, & F. Siebel (Eds.), Mathematik und Mensch: Sichtweisen der allgemeinen Mathematik (pp. 53–64). Allgemeine Wissenschaft.
Fischer, R. (2006). Materialization and organization: Towards a cultural anthropology of mathematics. ZDM Mathematics Education, 38(4), 316–322. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02652791
Foucault, M. (1954). Maladie mentale et psychologie [Mental illness and psychology]. PUF.
Foucault, M. (1966). Les mots et les choses: Une archéologie des sciences humaines [The order of things: An archaeology of the human sciences]. Gallimard.
Foucault, M. (1984). Nietzsche, genealogy, history. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), The Foucault reader (pp. 76–100). Pantheon. (Original work published 1971)
Foucault, M. (2007). The order of things: An archaeology of the human sciences. Routledge. (Original work published 1966)
Frank, H. (1939). Mathematik für höhere Schulen [Mathematics for higher secondary schools]. Coppenrath.
Frege, G. (1960). Frege against the formalists. In P. Geach & M. Black (Eds.), Translations from the philosophical writings of Gottlob Frege (pp. 182–233). Blackwell. (Original work published 1903)
Freitas, E. de (2008). Mathematics and its other: (Dis)locating the feminine. Gender and Education, 20(3), 281–290. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540250801964189
Gemelli Marciano, M. L. (Ed.). (2007). Die Vorsokratiker [The Presocratics]. Artemis & Winkler.
George, A., & Velleman, D. J. (2002). Philosophies of mathematics. Blackwell.
Gutiérrez, R. (2012). Embracing Nepantla: Rethinking ‘knowledge’ and its use in mathematics teaching. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 1(1), 29–56. https://doi.org/10.4471/redimat.2012.02
Gutiérrez, R. (2017a). Living mathematx: Towards a vision for the future. Philosophy of Mathematics Education, 32. http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/education/research/centres/stem/publications/pmej
Gutiérrez, R. (2017b). Why mathematics (education) was late to the backlash party: The need for a revolution. Journal of Urban Mathematics Education, 10(2), 8–24. https://doi.org/10.21423/jume-v10i2a347
Gutiérrez, R. (2018). The need to rehumanize mathematics. In I. Goffney & R. Gutiérrez (Eds.), Rehumanizing mathematics for Black, Indigenous, and Latinx students (pp. 1–10). National Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
Haslam, N. (2015). Dehumanization and intergroup relations. In M. Mikulincer, P. R. Shaver, J. F. Dovidio, & J. A. Simpson (Eds.), APA handbook of personality and social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 295–314). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14342-011
Heinrich, K. (1981). Tertium datur: Eine religionsphilosophische Einführung in die Logik [Tertium datur: An introduction to logic from the philosophy of religion]. Stroemfeld.
Heintz, B. (2000). Die Innenwelt der Mathematik: Zur Kultur und Praxis einer beweisenden Disziplin [The inner world of mathematics: On the culture and praxis of a proving discipline]. Springer.
Heraclitus. (1979). Fragments. In The art and thought of Heraclitus. Cambridge University Press.
Hersh, R. (1997). What is mathematics, really? Oxford University Press.
Horkheimer, M. (2004). Eclipse of reason. Continuum. (Original work published 1947)
Horkheimer, M., & Adorno, T. W. (2002). Dialectic of enlightenment: Philosophical fragments. Stanford University. (Original work published 1944)
Kelman, H. C. (1973). Violence without moral restraint: Reflections on the dehumanization of victims and victimizers. Journal of Social Issues, 29(4), 25–61. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1973.tb00102.x
Kleiner, I. (2001). History of the infinitely small and infinitely large in calculus. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 48(2), 137–174. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016090528065
Kollosche, D. (2014). Mathematics and power: An alliance in the foundations of mathematics and its teaching. ZDM Mathematics Education, 46(7), 1061–1072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-014-0584-0
Krämer, S. (1988a). Symbolische Maschinen [Symbolic machines]. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
Krämer, S. (1988b). The ‘Universal Thinking Machine’ or on the genesis of schematized reasoning in the 17th century. In I. Hronszky, M. Fehér, & B. Dajka (Eds.), Scientific knowledge socialized (pp. 179–191). Kluwer.
Krämer, S. (1991). Berechenbare Vernunft: Kalkül und Rationalismus im 17. Jahrhundert [Calculable reason: Calculus and rationality in the 17th century]. de Gruyter.
Krämer, S. (1998). Zentralperspektive, Kalkül, Virtuelle Realität: Sieben Thesen über die Weltbildimplikationen symbolischer Formen [Central perspective, calculus, virtual reality: Seven propositions on the implications of symbolic forms for conceptions of the world]. In G. Vattimo & W. Welsch (Eds.), Medien-Welten Wirklichkeiten (pp. 27–37). Fink.
Kronfeldner, M. (Ed.). (2021). The Routledge handbook of dehumanization. Routledge.
Kütting, H. (2012). Ideologie des Nationalsozialismus im Bildungssystem am Beispiel der Mathematik [Ideology of National Socialism in the educational system exemplified by mathematics]. Mitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Didaktik der Mathematik, (93), 6–22.
Lakatos, I. (1976). Proofs and refutations: The logic of mathematical discovery. Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1964)
Leibniz, G. W. (1896). New essays concerning human understanding (A. G. Langley, Ed.). Macmillan. (Original work published 1765)
Leibniz, G. W. (1996). Zur allgemeinen Charakteristik [On the universal characteristic]. In E. Cassirer & A. Buchenau (Eds.), Philosophische Bibliothek: Vol. 496. Philosophische Werke in vier Bänden (Vol. 1, pp. 16–23). Meiner. (Original work published 1686)
Lerner, G. (1986). The creation of patriarchy. Oxford University Press.
Mikkola, M. (2021). Why dehumanization is distinct from objectification. In M. Kronfeldner (Ed.), The Routledge handbook of dehumanization (pp. 326–340). Routledge.
Nietzsche, F. (1962). Philosophy in the tragic age of the Greeks. Regnery. (Original work published 1923)
Parmenides. (trans. 2009). Fragments of Parmenides: A critical text with introduction and translation, the Ancient testimonia and a commentary. Parmenides Publishing.
Plato. (trans. 1921a). Phaedo. In H. N. Fowler (Ed.), Plato in Twelve Volumes (Vol. 1). Heinemann.
Plato. (trans. 1921b). Theaetetus. In H. N. Fowler (Ed.), Plato in Twelve Volumes (Vol. 12). Heinemann.
Pólya, G. (1945). How to solve it: A new aspect of mathematical method. Princeton University Press.
Porter, T. M. (1996). Trust in numbers: The pursuit of objectivity in science and public life. Princeton University Press.
Schopenhauer, A. (1903). On the fourfold root of the principle of sufficient reason. George Bell & Sons. (Original work published 1813)
Schwarz, G. (2007). Die „Heilige Ordnung“ der Männer: Hierarchie, Gruppendynamik und die neue Rolle der Frauen [The ‘holy order’ of men: Hierarchy, group dynamics and the new role of women]. Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-531-90824-3 (Original work published 1985)
Skovsmose, O. (1994). Towards a philosophy of critical mathematics education. Kluwer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-3556-8
Skovsmose, O. (2011). An invitation to critical mathematics education. Sense. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-442-3
Ullmann, P. (2008). Mathematik, Moderne, Ideologie: Eine kritische Studie zur Legitimität und Praxis der modernen Mathematik [Mathematics, modernity, ideology: A critical study on the legitimacy and praxis of modern mathematics]. UVK.
Vernant, J.-P. (1982). The origins of Greek thought. Cornell. (Original work published 1962)
Voswinkel, R. (1998). Erzogen und entfremdet: Meine Erfahrungen mit der Mathematik [Educated and alienated: My experiences with mathematics]. Mathematik Lehren, 86, 18–19.
Walkerdine, V. (1988). The mastery of reason: Cognitive development and the production of rationality. Routledge.
Weber, M. (1978). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology. University of California Press. (Original work published 1922)
Wigner, E. (1960). The unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics in the natural sciences. Communications in Pure and Applied Mathematics, 13(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/cpa.3160130102
Wittgenstein, L. (1978). Remarks on the foundations of mathematics. Blackwell. (Original work published 1956)

Export Metadata

Mathematics can be seen as a project of dehumanisation in the sense that it allows us to work with a disregard for personal uniqueness. While the word ‘dehumanisation’ has a negative connotation and invites us to study this property of mathematics carefully, dehumanisation is also one of the great strengths of mathematics and has proved invaluable for modern society. We will trace this f ield of tension along two indisputable ingredients of mathematics activity: calculation and logic. As there is enough literature praising mathematics, we allow ourselves to take a more critical stance towards dehumanisation through mathematics. We end with a sceptical discussion on whether mathematics can be rehumanised.