Subject: Re: [HM] Kant and non-Euclidean geometry
From: Robert Tragesser (RTragesser@compuserve.com)
Date: Sat Mar 11 2000 - 07:10:02 EST
Just to add a query --
I'd heard some time ago from an historian of mathematics at
University College London that Lobachevskii's principal motivation for
seeking and developing a nonEuclidean geometry was political -- of
undermining the growth and spread of Kant-inspired political/moral
philosophy/ideology sweeping through Russia; L. sought to undermine
that Kantianism by undermining transcendental aesthetic of the First
Critique. I'm wondering if this is so (and also just what that
moral/political Kantianism might have been). If true, this might be
the first bit of creative mathematics inspired by politics/ethics;
would amusingly put the kabosh to those (like the Scottish philosopher
William Hamilton) who have wanted mathematics removed from the liberal
arts curriculum because of it's supposedly having no moral value.
rtragesser
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