Paradigm Change in Western Mathematical Thinking and its Impact in Philosophy of Mathematics
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59110/edutrend.994Keywords:
Curriculum, Modernism, Paradigm Shift, Philosophy of Mathematics, PostmodernismAbstract
This study examines paradigm changes in Western mathematical thought and their implications for the philosophy of mathematics, curriculum, and pedagogy. Employing a qualitative narrative literature review with historical-conceptual analysis and thematic synthesis, the study traces major transformations across premodern, modern, and postmodern paradigmatic orientations. The findings show that premodern thought was broadly characterized by cosmic harmony, essentialism, and an ordered conception of reality in which mathematical knowledge was closely associated with metaphysical and theological understandings. Modernism marked a major transformation through the scientific revolution, the mathematization of nature, and the development of mechanistic and rationalist approaches to knowledge. The contributions of Descartes and Newton were particularly influential in strengthening mathematics as a means of explaining and organizing the natural world and in reinforcing ideals of rationality, certainty, and systematic order. Postmodern thought subsequently challenged assumptions of universality, certainty, and linearity by emphasizing complexity, contextuality, plurality, and the constructed nature of knowledge. These paradigm changes also influenced educational thought. Modernist assumptions were reflected in technical rationality, linear curriculum organization, and predetermined learning outcomes, whereas later perspectives increasingly emphasized biological and cognitive views of development, interaction, transformation, and more flexible approaches to learning. The ideas associated with Piaget and Bruner further highlighted the developmental, constructive, and interactive character of learning, while postmodern curriculum perspectives introduced nonlinear and emergent conceptions of educational development, including the notion of chaotic order and a movement toward dialogical and participatory pedagogy. Overall, the review indicates that transformations in mathematical philosophy are closely interconnected with broader changes in Western epistemology and with corresponding shifts in curriculum and pedagogical thought.
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