Towards a Semiotics of Mathematics

Our opening reading will be Brian Rotman’s Towards a Semiotics of Mathematics, where mathematics is presented as an activity essentially done through writing. In order to understand what it means to read and write mathematics and what limitations this imposes on mathematics, Rotman introduces a semiotic model drawing from both Peircean and continental semiotics.

For this session we expect attendants to have read in advance the pages 97-111 from Rotman’s seminal paper:

• Rotman, B. (2006). Towards a semiotics of mathematics. In 18 Unconventional Essays on the Nature of Mathematics (pp. 97-127). Springer, New York, NY.

The book and this chapter can be be accessed freely by University of Amsterdam students through the link on the UvA library catalogue

During the session, Noel will present the main points of Rotman’s model, both from the paper and some other texts by Rotman, followed by a discussion on the text.

Slides used in the presentation are available here. Noel’s overview paper on Rotman’s work: [God, Infinity and Language: Semiotic Perspectives on the Philosophy of Mathematics ] (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TJ7bSk0ze0GDq80kGkVbTK5g60dQdUEo/view) (2019).