Search arXiv⌕ Search
Home/Archive/arXiv

arXiv · 2407.13312

Faith Believes, Hope Expects: The Impact of Calvin's Theology on the Mathematics of Chance

Timothy C. Johnson
View original source ↗Read source document ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

This paper attributes the sudden emergence of mathematical probability and statistics in the second half of the seventeenth century to Calvin's Reformed theology. Calvin accommodated Epicurean chance with Stoic determinism and synthesised \emph{phronesis/prudentia}, founded personal experience and employed to deal with \emph{tyche/fortuna}, and \emph{episteme/scientia}, universal knowledge. This meant that matters of chance, which had previously been considered too particular for mathematical treatment, became part of \emph{episteme/scientia}. Clear evidence of the significance of Calvin in mathematics is in the facts that Huygens considered using the word 'hope' to describe mathematical expectation and French mathematics still uses \emph{esp\'erance} for mathematical expectation. Calvin asserted that Hope represented a universal, objective and indubitable idea making it characteristic of mathematics. The argument is built on a review of how the ideas of Hope, Faith and Prudence have evolved in European thought that highlights Calvin's innovations. The conclusion identifies contemporary issues in the application of mathematics in society that are illuminated in light of Calvin's doctrine.

Explore related subjects

math.HO

Keep this discovery

BibTeXRIS

Timothy C. Johnson. 2024-07-18. Faith Believes, Hope Expects: The Impact of Calvin's Theology on the Mathematics of Chance. https://arxiv.org/abs/2407.13312

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related papers

arXiv2026

Perspectives on the unit distance problem

This is a survey on an old open problem in combinatorics called the unit distance problem, and the field of mathematics around it, called incidence geometry. What do we know about the problem? Why is it difficult? How does it connect with other parts of math?

math.HO↗
arXiv2026

A Categorical Approach to Euclidean Ratios and Proportions

A categorial approach to the non-metric geometry in Books V and VI of Euclid's \textit{Elements} is presented. Specifically, we introduce a diagrammatic syntax that can be overlaid immediately on his diagrams, thus bridging intuitive presentation with fidelity to Euclid's arguments. This syntax makes complicated definitions like V.5, and indeed the arguments throughout books V and VI, including arguments about similar figures, intuitively clear. We show in an appendix that this syntax can be used to solve a puzzle regarding ancient mathematics. Finally, we offer evidence that this approach to Euclidean diagrams is rooted in the Aristotelian tradition itself, and that a similar syntax was utilized, in antiquity, for related questions of numeric and proportions. Thus the syntax is plausibly faithful to Euclid's own thought-world, and not an outside-imposition.

math.HO↗
arXiv2026

Some Early Results by Tutte Regarding the Cycle Double Cover Conjecture in 1948

OpenAI recently announced a proof of the Cycle Double Cover (CDC) Conjecture. Most media reports have characterized it as a 50-year-old open problem. In reality, according to a 1987 letter from Tutte to Fleischner, the Cycle Double Cover Problem has been open for at least 80 years. Two early results regarding the CDC conjecture were established in one of Tutte's 1949 publications.

math.HO↗