Interdisciplinarity under consideration of the Theoretical System of Expanded Affectivity

An essay about overcoming difficulties in learning of Mathematics through Language and Semiotics

Abstract

This article is based on one of the authors dissertation, which general goal was to investigate the approximations between the learning of Mathematics and the formal language. The work is based on the bibliographic research on the development of Mathematics and language, both at phylogenetic as well as at ontogenetic level. It is argued that Mathematics and language are made possible to the human being by the same basic characteristic - the ability for abstract thinking. Thus, these two disciplines are searched for similarities, as well as for viable paths for a more fruitful work in the intricacies of Mathematics. The authors argument that the field of semiotic studies, which encompasses the two disciplines discussed here (Language and Mathematics), can play the role of a link between the two of them, as well as provide possibilities for an interdisciplinary work that brings fruitful results for the learning of these areas. The work’s main theoretical reference is the Theoretical System of Expanded Affectivity (TSEA), which aims to study the human being and its relation with the world in its integrality. Thus, one of the objectives is to seek the integration of knowledge, as opposed to the exacerbated fragmentation currently found in science and in school institutions. It is also intended that this work be a source of reflection on possibilities for an expanded view of the knowledge and the human being itself.