ANALYTIC TEACHING  AND PHILOSOPHICAL PRAXIS   Volume 34 Issue 1   (2013) 
  

Guest Editor’s Notes
In this special issue centered on the theme of Phil-

osophical Inquiry in the Learning and Teaching of 
Mathematics, our contributing authors – philosophers 
of education and mathematics education researchers –
explore the role of philosophical dialogue and inquiry 
and its potential for transforming the math classroom. 
To start us off, Stefano Oliverio traces the deep, his-
torically grounded solidarity between math and phi-
losophy, and calls for re-thinking and (re-) harmoniz-
ing this relationship in the mathematics classroom. 
Contrary to the ancient Platonic dictum that math is 
a “doorway” to philosophy, he suggests the opposite: 
that philosophical discussion in math classes may lead 
to an enriched engagement with mathematical prac-
tice itself. Such an engagement is ultimately ethical, 
as it allows, in his words, individuals to follow their 
own inquiries and to find “the appropriate place” for 
math in their own lifeworlds.  Then John Roemischer 
points out that mathematics is often taught as “non-
problematic,” but that a discipline can never be such. 
The role of philosophical inquiry, he argues, is “not to 
discover something of which until now we have been 
ignorant,” but to see conceptual aspects and assump-
tions that have not been unearthed, and thus “to come 
to know it [mathematics] in a different and better way.” 
Taking this idea a step further, Nataly Chesky argues 
for the use of philosophical discourse as a reflective 
meta-language, which can be utilized to unearth the 
normative assumptions that inform the way we concep-
tualize mathematics. Then Daniel Fisherman discusses 
the potential of philosophical dialogue for transform-
ing students’ negative attitudes towards mathematics, 
through forging personally meaningful connections 
between math and everyday experience.

Transitioning onto more concrete terrain, Lyn Eng-
lish offers the possibility of philosophical inquiry set 
within the context of mathematical modeling as used 
in real-world interdisciplinary situations. Here, philo-
sophical inquiry becomes an “inbuilt component” of 
modeling, and functions concomitantly with the ac-
tual mathematical inquiry to challenge and evaluate 
students’ assumptions, and the thinking underlying a 
given math model, thus engaging students in a com-
plex cycle of interpreting, questioning, and trying out 
multiple approaches to finding solutions. And Diana 
Meerwaldt, Rita Borromeo Ferri, and Patricia Nevers 
explore yet another aspect of philosophizing in the 
context of mathematical modeling—the use of specula-

CHIEF EDITOR
Jason J. Howard
Viterbo University

GUEST EDITOR FOR VOLUME 34
Nadia Kennedy
Stony Brook University, SUNY

COPY EDITOR
Jacqueline Herbers
Viterbo University

EDITORIAL BOARD
Patrick Costello
Glyndŵr University, Wales

Susan Gardner
Capilano University, Canada

David Kennedy
Montclair State University

Nadia Kennedy
Stony Brook University, SUNY

Richard Morehouse, Emeritus
Viterbo University

Felix García Moriyón
Center for Philosophy for Children
Madrid, Spain

Joe Oyler
IAPC, Montclair State University

Michel Sasseville
Laval University, Quebec

John Simpson
University of Alberta, Canada

LAYOUT DESIGN ASSISTANTS
Tyler R. Mancl

PUBLISHER
Viterbo University
La Crosse, Wisconsin 54601
Copyright 2005
Analytic Teaching and Philosophical Praxis is usually published  

       twice a year.
ISSN 0890-5118



       ANALYTIC TEACHING  AND PHILOSOPHICAL PRAXIS   Volume 34 Issue 1   (2013) 
  

tive thinking in support of the development of modeling skills and dispositions. Then, by way of clearing the at-
mosphere for this kind of thinking, Marie France-Daniel advocates engaging students in philosophical dialogue 
to enhance autonomous and critical engagement with mathematical problems and a deeper understanding of 
concepts, as well as critical reflection on the biases and stereotypes that are often associated with mathematics. 
Finally, Dimitris Chassapis argues that philosophical dialogue should be an essential dimension of math teacher 
education. It has the potential, in his view, to act as a tool for the epistemological clarification of mathematical 
knowledge – which he considers essential for the preparation of competent teachers – as well as to provide a 
medium for ongoing critical practitioner reflection.

Our hope is that this special issue of AT&PP will inaugurate ever more robust conversations about the merits 
of philosophical dialogue in the mathematics classroom, and that it will act as a “doorway” leading to not just 
the reconstruction of classroom practice, but the reconstruction of popular beliefs and value judgments about 
mathematics as a field of knowledge.

Happy Reading, 

Nadia Kennedy