The construction and transmission of mathematical knowledge from a Wittgensteinian perspective

With the "linguistic turn" of the end of the 19th century, some philosophers, including the Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein, began to consider the role of our linguistic expressions in the constitution of sense. Particularly in Wittgenstein's reflections on the foundations of mathematics, he suggests that we consider mathematical propositions as rules to be followed, attached to conventional procedures and techniques in our forms of life, without a finite and extra-linguistic reality that "supervises" mathematical activity, however. According to this new approach, the pragmatic dimension plays a transcendental role in the transmission and construction of knowledge, thus opposing the dogmatism present in the previous epistemological conceptions and providing new possibilities to conceive the teaching of this discipline.

Philosophical pragmatics; Meaning; Mathematics teaching; Wittgenstein