Abstract

Wittgenstein harshly criticized what he considered “mythologies” infecting our understanding of how mathematics work. He was especially reluctant to the idea that they describe a realm of abstract entities influencing our cognitive capacities. Several Wittgenstein scholars have drawn the conclusion that his analysis results in a sociological interpretation of mathematics. The present paper aims at demonstrating that although mathematical practices deserve to be called “social” this doesn’t necessarily leads us to the conclusion that they are offered to sociological explanation.