mathematics | ˌmaθ(ə)ˈmatɪks |
plural noun [usually treated as singular]
the abstract science of number, quantity, and space, either as abstract concepts (pure mathematics), or as applied to other disciplines such as physics and engineering (applied mathematics): a taste for mathematics.
  • [often treated as plural] the mathematical aspects of something: James immerses himself in the mathematics of baseball.
    • origin
    mid 16th century: plural of obsolete mathematic ‘mathematics’, from Old French mathematique, from Latin (ars) mathematica ‘mathematical (art)’, from Greek mathēmatikē (epistēmē), from the base of manthanein ‘learn’.
    artifice | ˈɑːtɪfɪs |
    noun [mass noun]
    clever or cunning devices or expedients, especially as used to trick or deceive others: an industry dominated by artifice | [count noun] : the style is not free from the artifices of the period.
    origin
    early 16th century (in the sense ‘workmanship’): from Anglo-Norman French, from Latin artificium, based on ars, art- ‘art’ + facere ‘make’. Late Middle English has the form artificie, directly from Latin.

    We are a reading group based at Utrecht University interested in understanding mathematics as an artifice. We study how different strands of mathematics constructs and operates abstractions and examine how these abstractions yield concrete concepts and artefacts that mediate our cultures. Our aim is to question the contemporary through the vector of mathematics and its artifices. You can follow our research activites: Mathematics & Artifice

    Upcoming session(s)

    Opening Session 2026/2027 When: tbd (in October)
    Where: online

    During this session we will select the reading list and schedule for the academic year 2026/2027. A preliminary list is on the website and we will add to it and select the texts we want to read.

    Previous sessions

    Reading List

    Brouwer, Luitzen Egbertus Jan. 2017. “L.E.J. Brouwer's ‘unreliability of the Logical Principles’: A New Translation, with an Introduction”

    Brouwer, Luitzen Egbertus Jan. 2017. “L.E.J. Brouwer's ‘unreliability of the Logical Principles’: A New Translation, with an Introduction”. Translated by Mark Van Atten and Göran Sundholm. History and Philosophy of Logic 38 (1): 24–47. https://doi.org/10.1080/01445340.2016.1210986.

    Damerow, Peter. 2007. “The Material Culture of Calculation”

    Damerow, Peter. 2007. “The Material Culture of Calculation”. In Mathematisation and Demathematisation, edited by Uwe Gellert and Eva Jablonka, 19–56. BRILL. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789460911439_003.

    De Mol, Liesbeth, and Giuseppe Primiero. 2015. “When Logic Meets Engineering: Introduction to Logical Issues in the History and Philosophy of Computer Science”

    De Mol, Liesbeth, and Giuseppe Primiero. 2015. “When Logic Meets Engineering: Introduction to Logical Issues in the History and Philosophy of Computer Science”. History and Philosophy of Logic 36 (3): 195–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/01445340.2015.1084183.

    Dunning, David E.. 2021. “The Work of Writing Programs: Logic and Inscriptive Practice in the History of Computing”

    Dunning, David E.. 2021. “The Work of Writing Programs: Logic and Inscriptive Practice in the History of Computing”. IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 43 (4): 27–42. https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.2021.3108557.

    Frege, Gottlob. 1948. “Sense and Reference”

    Frege, Gottlob. 1948. “Sense and Reference”. The Philosophical Review 57 (3): 209–30. https://doi.org/10.2307/2181485.

    Galloway, Alexander R.. 2021. “The Gender of Math”

    Galloway, Alexander R.. 2021. “The Gender of Math”. Differences 32 (3): 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1215/10407391-9479681.

    Galloway, Alexander R.. 2025. “A Brief History of Digital Philosophy in 10 Expressions”

    Galloway, Alexander R.. 2025. “A Brief History of Digital Philosophy in 10 Expressions”. In Digital Theory, 44–68. In Search of Media Series. Lüneburg: meson press. https://doi.org/10.14619/0849.

    Garber, Daniel, and Sandy Zabell. 1979. “On the Emergence of Probability”

    Garber, Daniel, and Sandy Zabell. 1979. “On the Emergence of Probability”. Archive for History of Exact Sciences 21 (1): 33–53. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00327872.

    Hacking, Ian. 2014. “What Makes Mathematics Mathematics?”

    Hacking, Ian. 2014. “What Makes Mathematics Mathematics?”. In Why Is There Philosophy of Mathematics at All?. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107279346.

    Heyting, Arend. 1956. “Disputation”

    Heyting, Arend. 1956. “Disputation”. In Intuitionism: An Introduction, 1–12. Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics. Amsterdam: North-Holland Publishing Company.

    Lyotard, Jean-François. 1984. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge

    Lyotard, Jean-François. 1984. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. Translated by Geoff Bennington and Brian Massumi. Theory and History of Literature 10. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Martin-Löf, Per. 1982. “Constructive Mathematics and Computer Programming”

    Martin-Löf, Per. 1982. “Constructive Mathematics and Computer Programming”. In Studies in Logic and the Foundations of Mathematics, 104:153–75. North-Holland Publishing Company. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0049-237X(09)70189-2.

    Martin-Löf, Per. 1987. “Truth of a Proposition, Evidence of a Judgement, Validity of a Proof”

    Martin-Löf, Per. 1987. “Truth of a Proposition, Evidence of a Judgement, Validity of a Proof”. Synthese 73 (3): 407–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00484985.

    Mastenbroek, Irma. 2025. “Girl Math Fundamentals – Proof by Subversion”

    Mastenbroek, Irma. 2025. “Girl Math Fundamentals – Proof by Subversion”. Institute of Network Cultures. Longforms (blog). November 20, 2025. https://networkcultures.org/longform/2025/11/20/girl-math-fundamentals-proof-by-subversion/.

    Nofre, David, Mark Priestley, and Gerard Alberts. 2014. “When Technology Became Language: The Origins of the Linguistic Conception of Computer Programming, 1950–1960”

    Nofre, David, Mark Priestley, and Gerard Alberts. 2014. “When Technology Became Language: The Origins of the Linguistic Conception of Computer Programming, 1950–1960”. Technology and Culture 55 (1): 40–75. https://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2014.0031.

    Poincaré, Henri. 2005. “Mathematics and Logic: II”

    Poincaré, Henri. 2005. “Mathematics and Logic: II”. In From Kant to Hilbert: A Source Book in the Foundations of Mathematics, edited by William Bragg Ewald, 2:1038–52. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.

    Rotman, Brian. 2000. “Towards a Semiotics of Mathematics”

    Rotman, Brian. 2000. “Towards a Semiotics of Mathematics”. In Mathematics as Sign: Writing, Imagining, Counting, 1–43. Writing Science. Stanford, Calif: Stanford University Press.

    Russell, Bertrand. 1905. “On Denoting”

    Russell, Bertrand. 1905. “On Denoting”. Mind 14 (4): 479–93. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1093/mind/XIV.4.479.

    Soare, Robert I.. 1996. “Computability and Recursion”

    Soare, Robert I.. 1996. “Computability and Recursion”. Bulletin of Symbolic Logic 2 (03): 284–321. https://doi.org/10.2307/420992.

    Wojnowski, Konrad. 2026. “Raving on a Budget: How to Get Inside Berghain?”

    Wojnowski, Konrad. 2026. “Raving on a Budget: How to Get Inside Berghain?”. Institute of Network Cultures. Longforms (blog). October 17, 2026. https://networkcultures.org/longform/2026/10/17/raving-on-a-budget-how-to-get-inside-berghain/.