Catarina Dutilh Novaes

University of Groningen

The Beauty(?) of Mathematical Proofs

20 October 2017, 16:00

Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa

Sala Mattos Romão (Departamento de Filosofia)

Abstract: Mathematicians often use aesthetic vocabulary to describe mathematical proofs: they can be beautiful, elegant, ugly, etc. In recent years, philosophers of mathematics have begun to ask themselves what these descriptions in fact mean: should we take them literally, as tracking truly aesthetic properties of mathematical proofs, or are these terms being used as proxy for non-aesthetic properties? Starting from the (largely dialogical) idea that one of the main functions of mathematical proofs is to explain and convince, I argue that most of the properties typically associated with beautiful proofs are ultimately epistemic properties. There is however an ‘aesthetic’ residue that is not to be immediately reduced to the epistemic import of proofs, namely the surprising effect that a proof may have. I argue that this aspect is rather to be understood as eliciting an affective response in the proof’s recipient, which in turn plays an important role in a proof’s persuasive effect.