Abstract
We discuss whether a generic argument can be considered a proof. Two positions on this question have recently been published which focus on the fussiness of an argument as a deciding criterion. We take a third view that takes into account psychological and social factors. Psychologically, for a generic argument to be a proof it must result in a convincing deductive reasoning process occurring in the mind of the reader. Socially, for a generic argument to be a proof it must conform to the social conventions of the context. For classroom settings, we suggest two kinds of evidence that should be reflected in written work in order for a generic argument to be accepted as a proof. These kinds of evidence reveal the linkage between the psychological and social factors.
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Reid, D., Vallejo Vargas, E. (2018). When Is a Generic Argument a Proof?. In: Stylianides, A., Harel, G. (eds) Advances in Mathematics Education Research on Proof and Proving. ICME-13 Monographs. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-70996-3_17
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