(PREPRINT) The Relation between Ethics and Mathematics in The Context of Constructivism

Constructivism enables a world of meaning in which knowledge and experience are constructed through relations and contexts. Its environmental and social dimension, in the ethical realm, functions in the formation of principles within individual decision-making processes and plays an influential role in the legitimation of actions. It is maintained that constructivism in ethics is directly related to the form of mathematical constructivism that individuals encounter in their educational experience. Accordingly, this study aims to discuss the similarities between constructivism in mathematics and in ethics, as well as the interaction between these fields. The approach proposes an epistemological method and emphasizes that knowledge is not a fixed propositional structure that is given; rather, it is a dynamic process reconstructed through the principle-generating activity of the “knowing subject.” This study argues that the two disciplines follow similar intellectual trajectories in terms of their precepts, subjects, and problems. This similarity reveals itself particularly at the methodological level and calls for a reconsideration of issues concerning certainty, truth, and justification in both realms. In this way, the constructivist approach provides the conditions for establishing an interdisciplinary bridge. Hence, the middle path is determined by the constructivist account that emerged as an alternative between moral realism and robust subjectivism. In the thoughts of Plato and Kant, especially, the normative role of reason and the search for universal principles constitute the foundations of ethical constructivism. In accordance with that, moral values and moral facts are neither completely discovered nor entirely individual; instead, they are rational and construed entirely through normative procedures. In accordance with the foundations in both areas, knowledge and meaning are not mere reflections of an external reality but reveal themselves as a structure with the active participation of the human mind.