Abstract
‘Working’ mathematicians will claim without any hesitation that the above figure and formula represent the same thing, namely a normal distribution or Gauss bell-curve. The label ‘working’ is apposite here, as some more philosophically minded mathematicians will insist that the formula is the Gauss curve, whereas the drawing is a representation of the curve. Since the authors of this chapter are themselves quite philosophically minded, we will also take this issue seriously. Formula and figure are not the same kind of thing. Here, we are saying something quite similar to the distinction that is made between (mathematical) proofs and diagrams, a topic that will be developed during this chapter. Does not the figure contain additional elements that have nothing to do with the formula, such as the thickness of the curve or its colour? And, at the same time, does the figure not erase crucial information? After all, from the drawing one cannot conclude that the elusive number π plays a part in it. We do not want to focus on ontological matters here. Rather, our interest is in the ethics and aesthetics of the matter (along with epistemology concerns when they become relevant). However, this is a complex matter. A first-order approximation whereby statistics is seen as either a part of pure mathematics or a part of applied mathematics1 and where ‘only’ the ethical and aesthetical dimension are considered, leads to a first-order four-case classification, illustrating the complexities of the issue as follows:
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Van Bendegem, J.P., François, K., Coessens, K. (2010). The Good, the Beautiful and the Literate: Making Statistics Accessible for Action. In: Smeyers, P., Depaepe, M. (eds) Educational Research - the Ethics and Aesthetics of Statistics. Educational Research, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9873-3_10
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