Acknowledgements

In: How Language Informs Mathematics
Author:
Dirk Damsma
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Acknowledgements

Geert Reuten introduced me to the methodology of systematic dialectics in his course Politieke Economie: Staat en Globalisering (Political Economy: State and Globalisation). This was the first course I encountered that appeared to actually care about the reality of the economic system we live in and not just about the technicalities of certain unfounded model representations of it. My interest in the relationship between reality and its many representations (and between the several representations themselves) can thus be traced to this course. My enthusiasm notwithstanding, I thought I had found some mistake in Reuten and Williams’ book, and wrote my paper on this alleged mistake.1 In direct defiance of Kuhn’s description of how science is organised, Geert readily admitted his mistake and awarded me a very high grade for pointing out that he was wrong.2 As of that point onwards he developed into what Wouter Krasser once called my “business daddy”, a fatherly figure who stimulated me to pursue my academic interests further and advised me on how best to go about this. He supervised my Master’s thesis, helped me secure financial support and land jobs, and supervised the PhD dissertation that forms the basis of this book, while John Davis enthusiastically and pro-actively facilitated us. My gratitude is immense.

As I do not have the space to thank everyone who is important to me, I will limit myself to the many commenters on the numerous drafts of the book over the years: Arjan van den Bosch, Eric Halmans, Wouter Krasser, Marcel Boumans, Gerard Alberts, Louk Fleischhacker, Maurice Bos, Tijmen Daniels, Sietske Greeuw, David Carlson, Christopher Arthur, Tony Smith, Paul Zarembka, Jerry Levy, Jurriaan Bendien, Henri Beaufort (referenced here as Ellsworth de Slade), Patrick Murray, Mary Morgan and Marcel van der Linden. Special thanks go to Boe Thio for his corrections of my mathematics and his suggestions regarding its interpretation and presentation. Thank you all for your constructive comments. The end result has become much better thanks to your patient efforts.

Without my parents, this book obviously would never have been written. They supported me every step of the way, both mentally and – though I hate to admit it – financially, never complaining that I was squandering my education by not capitalising on it in a proper career. Thanks for keeping faith.

Last but not least, I owe a big thanks to my wife, Sjosjana Wetberg, who has always known that I need science to be happy and therefore stimulated me to forgo career opportunities that would divert me from my purpose in life. She uncomplainingly put up with the distractedness and forgone family income that resulted from the choices she encouraged me to make. Our three boys brought structure and discipline to my days and filled the simplest things with joy and wonder. Sjosjana, Sietze, Jouke en Aiden, ik houd van jullie.

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