Paraconsistency in Mathematics [Paperback]

An accessible survey of a programme in logic that allows mathematics to be inconsistent.Paraconsistency was intended for use in mathematics, providing a rigorous framework for describing abstract objects and structures where some contradictions are allowed, without collapse into incoherence. This Element provides a selective introductory survey of this research program, distinguishing between `moderate' and `radical' approaches.Paraconsistency was intended for use in mathematics, providing a rigorous framework for describing abstract objects and structures where some contradictions are allowed, without collapse into incoherence. This Element provides a selective introductory survey of this research program, distinguishing between `moderate' and `radical' approaches.Paraconsistent logic makes it possible to study inconsistent theories in a coherent way. From its modern start in the mid-20th century, paraconsistency was intended for use in mathematics, providing a rigorous framework for describing abstract objects and structures where some contradictions are allowed, without collapse into incoherence. Over the past decades, this initiative has evolved into an area of non-classical mathematics known as inconsistent or paraconsistent mathematics. This Element provides a selective introductory survey of this research program, distinguishing between `moderate' and `radical' approaches. The emphasis is on philosophical issues and future challenges.1. Invitation to Paraconsistency in Mathematics: Why and How?; 2. Set Theory; 3. Arithmetic; 4. Calculus, Topology, and Geometry; 5. Whither Paraconsistency in Mathematics?