The First Ever International Fernando Gil Award for Philosophy and Science To Be Received by Professor Ladislav Kvasz from the Charles University Faculty of Educa ****************************************************************************************** * The First Ever International Fernando Gil Award for Philosophy and Science To Be Receive Ladislav Kvasz from the Charles University Faculty of Education ****************************************************************************************** The Fernando Gil Award, which includes a generous monetary prize, is sometimes called the philosophy. The first annual award was granted to Professor Ladislav Kvasz, a member of th Mathematics and Didactics of Mathematics since 2007, for his book called Patterns of Chang Innovations in the Development of Classical Mathematics, which bridges the disciplines of philosophy. You earned the prize by writing the book Patterns of Change, LinProfessor RNDr. Ladislav K the Development of Classical Mathematics which was published in has been the member of the However, it had been already published earlier in Slovak. What’sMathematics and Didactics publication? since 2007. He teaches mat The book focuses on the ways the language of mathematics changesanalysis, set theory, logi history. I believe that there are basically four different ways mathematics.anguage of mathematics develops. The problem was that I wasn’t able to illuIn 1986, he graduated from mathematics and I did so using physics instead. Originally, I wrMathematics and Physics of and published it in 1998. It has the first chapter on physics anUniversity in Bratislava, chapters on mathematics. Then I translated it into English as itthe systems theory and sel Professor Donald Gillies in London and he warned me that mathemaof theoretical physics pro the physics part too well and vice versa, and in the end, nobodycourse of his studies, he suggested I drop the physics and now I can see it was good advicMinister of Education awar therefore discusses only three types of changes in mathematics. started a doctoral degree The Fernando Gil Award is not that well-known in the Czech Repubat the Comenius University by? Arts. He received his Ph.D Fernando Gil was a notable Portuguese philosopher, who introduceon his dissertation Classi approach to philosophy. He died in 2006. The International FernaScientific Revolutions. In introduced at a suggestion of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundationassistant professorship in founded by the Portuguese oil magnate. It is awarded by the Portthanks to his work On Revo Education, based on a decision of a twelve-member committee. Science and Ruptures in th Science. In 2006, he recei professorship in mathemati work Analysis of the Chang During the Reconstruction of Mathematics. In the Spr was granted full professor University. What does the award comprise? I will receive the award at a ceremony in Lisbon in March of 2011. I will give two lecture the general public (which will also be published by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation) an experts and students. There is also a monetary prize of 125,000 EUR. Would you call yourself a mathematician, or a philosopher? There are mathematicians, who don’t like philosophy, and vice versa. But both terms are tr attributed to Pythagoras. Before Pythagoras, the word “sofos” (sage) was commonly used. Py introduced a technical term for those who love knowledge and called himself the same. He a the word “mathematics”. In my opinion, mathematics is doing philosophy with a compass and Philosophy asks very general questions, but some of them can be formulated precisely enoug be also answered in an exact manner. And that’s where mathematics comes into play, offerin to very deep questions that philosophy used to ask. For example, the question of what spac a deeply philosophical question. Mathematics creates theories of different kinds of spaces alternative spaces. Therefore, I think that many mathematical questions are in fact philos method is different. There is a huge overlap between the two disciplines. Then why don’t we see more programmes in mathematics and philosophy at universities? This is mainly the case in our country. It depends on the tradition, on what type of mathe philosophy is being pursued. In London or at Berkeley, it is a regular programme. It doesn students, but it’s quite renowned. It also depends on the way universities are structured. into faculties that are independent of each other and don’t communicate much. In the Anglo there are colleges that combine all subjects in one body. Oficiální stránky Mezinárodní ceny Fernando Gila [ URL "http://fernando-gil.org.pt/en/awar (Lucie Kettnerová)