¿Cuándo una demonstración es más perspicua que outra?

Abstract

Proofs contribute to mathematical knowledge in a richer way than through exclusively of their results. Then, a philosophically relevant task is to inquire how diverse demonstrations of the same result concretize that contribution. This essay compares (following a recent work by John Dawson) various demonstrations of an elementary result of number theory, regarding a specific relation: “. . . is more perspicuous than . . . ”. The main conclusion of this work aims to highlight (in the cases considered) the relevance of the analysis of the strategic and expressive contrasts and its peculiar dynamics, in the understanding of the relationship of perspicuity between proofs.