ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at both the philosophy of mathematics and the historical development of the patent system in order to find a sound theoretical basis for its non-patentability. It discusses the historical and philosophical understandings of mathematics. The chapter shows that whilst many theories as to the nature of mathematics have been advanced, no particular theory has come to dominate. Mathematics is an interesting topic to look at from a patent law perspective because it forms one of the longest standing and perhaps least understood exceptions to patentability. The recurrence of mathematical artefacts in various physical phenomena lends an air of authenticity to the objects on which mathematics is based. The search for a solid foundation for mathematical truths is as much a question of the history of mathematics as a question of philosophy. Social constructivism is a kind of neo-Kantianism in which the objectivity of mathematics is sourced neither in the platonic realm nor in the physical universe.
