Mathematical Education Research and militaristic mentality

Abstract

In this paper, we are going to consider the question about the relationship between research in mathematics education and social change. First, we make the argument that a militaristic mentality constituted the main factor that led to the historical rise of mathematicians and mathematics teachers, as well as mathematics and mathematics education as autonomous social practices of research. Next, based on Whitehead’s aesthetic aphorism, stating that the function of reason is to promote the art of life, we will assert the need to counter this militaristic mentality by developing an ethical-political education based on current or past social uses of mathematics, which are never neutral in relation to these ethics. Key-words: Mathematics Education Research; Militaristic Mentality; Ethical-Political Education.