ABSTRACT
According to Bertrand Russell (1904), “Mathematics may be defined as a subject in which we never know what we are talking about, nor whether what we are saying is true” (p. 84). Thus, for Russell, “not knowing what we are talking about” is the unique characteristic of mathematics, something that sets mathematical discourse apart from other discursive formations. To have a better grasp of what Russell might have had in mind, let us compare the following two utterances:
The expressions “the founder of psychoanalysis” and “Sigmund Freud” mean the same because they refer to the same person.
The symbols “⅔” and “ https://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> 12 18 https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781410605351/2f9f42ae-0417-4698-b90d-55255de9262e/content/inline-math_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/> ” mean the same because they refer to the same number.
