Re: Reflexivity
Jay Lemke (JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU)
Thu, 19 Oct 95 23:32:56 EDT
Just a note. Vera is quite right, I'm sure, about the variability
in mathematics between the more typological and topological
emphases. But my point is really to note how mathematics can
bridge between these, and the key place of this bridging function
all through it's history -- not just or even especially its
self-reconstructed 'internal' history, but its social-contextual
history. As with science, and even more so in mathematics (or
music, or art, or almost anything) the dominant modernist view
has been internalist: their histories have arisen mostly from
their internal logic and processes. In science, I think this
position now must be completely abandoned in historical studies,
and I suspect it is no more valid for math or music. If we focus
on the externalities of the history, then I think we especially
see how the bridging function has been critical. But I am not
mainly interested in the history of mathematics, except as
a source of clues about how it works semiotically. I am only
interested now in how it functions in various contexts, esp.
its use in natural science, where the bridging function becomes
very interesting indeed to look at more closely. JAY.
JAY LEMKE.
City University of New York.
BITNET: JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM
INTERNET: JLLBC who-is-at CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU