rapaport@sunybcs.UUCP (William J. Rapaport) (11/05/86)
SUNY Buffalo
BUFFALO LOGIC COLLOQUIUM
SANFORD SEGAL
Department of Mathematics
University of Rochester
"Nazi Mathematics: Philosophy and Pedagogy"
Wednesday, November 19, 1986
4:00 p.m.
Diefendorf 103, Main Street Campus
During the Nazi regime in Germany, an attempt was made to discern a par-
ticularly _German_ mathematics (as opposed to the mathematics of other
nationalities or ethnic groups). "_Deutsche Mathematik_" was both a
movement and a journal (1936-1943). Because the "facts" of mathematics
were acknowledged as having universal validity, this movement emphasized
pedagogical and philosophical issues. The situation in mathematics was
thus quite different from that in physics or chemistry, where some of
the actual "facts" of the subject matter were disputed.
A substantial number of mathematicians, some of them quite famous, were
Nazi sympathizers or "fellow-travelers" (though not all of these were
involved in "Deutsche Mathematik"). In addition to the usual motives
such as genuine belief in the Nazi movement or "settling old scores", a
number of more complicated reasons motivated both these mathematicians
and the _Deutsche Mathematiker_. Among them were that some long-
traditional modes of thought in the social sciences and pedagogy at the
time supported such interpretations, that there was a genuine fear that
mathematics might be destroyed in the name of irrationalism and anti-
mathematical thought then sweeping Germany, that a prominent group of
Nazi psychologists identified mathematics as the ideal testing ground
for theories of racial differences, and conflicts among mathematicians
over appropriate approaches to the doing of mathematics.
These various aspects will be briefly discussed with an emphasis on the
philosophical and pedagogical issues involved and the intellectual
rationale offered by some Nazi mathematicians.
Coffee in the Mathematics Common Room at 3:30 p.m.
Dutch treat supper following the colloquium.
Please call (716) 636-2438 for reservations before November 18.
William J. Rapaport
Assistant Professor
Dept. of Computer Science, SUNY Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14260
(716) 636-3193, 3180
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