In Doubt: - About Language, Mathematics, Knowledge and Life-Worlds

During years a main part of Ole Skovsmose's research has addressed educational issues. He has developed the notions of landscapes of investigation, mathematics in action, students' foreground, and ghettoising with particular reference to mathematics education. In this book he addresses more general issues related to mathematics. Ole Skovsmose tries to show that mathematics, like any other language, includes presumptions, ideas, and priorities. Mathematics does not provide a step out of the metaphysics that accompanies natural language, as suggested by many, who see mathematics as the language of objectivity. By investigating how mathematics forms part of technological endeavours, Ole Skovsmose explores how also mathematics itself embraces a range of metaphysical assumptions. This observation has implications for how we interpret the most general aspects of human life. Thus, Ole Skovsmose sees our life-worlds as fabricated and mathematics as being crucial to this fabrication. It constitutes part of the human condition, although it can be a highly dubious and frightful constitution.