Abstract
Grassmann’s epistemological insights have attracted less attention than his mathemati cal results.Mathematicians have considered himas a precursor ofmodernmathematical theories – vector algebra, exterior algebra, Clifford algebra, and geometric algebrapaying attention to the development of mathematical results rather than to the philosophical differences between Grassmann’s own project and modern mathematical reconstructions [Cartan 1907; Hestenes 1985]. Historians of mathematics have analyzed the reception and influence of Grassmann (see for example the papers collected in[Schubring 1996a]), and philosophers’ attention has been driven especially to the Introduction to the 1844 edition of Ausdehnungslehre, or to a comparison with other philosophers.2.
This work was completed with the support of ANR Chaire d’Excellence “Ideals of Proof,” Université de Nancy, Université de Paris 7 Diderot (France), but had its origin in my dissertation discussed at the University of Genova (Italy) in 2003.
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Cantù, P. (2011). Grassmann’s epistemology: multiplication and constructivism. In: Petsche, HJ., Lewis, A., Liesen, J., Russ, S. (eds) From Past to Future: Graßmann's Work in Context. Springer, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0346-0405-5_9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0346-0405-5_9
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