Naples' 1790s civil war was intensified by moral panic over Real Analysis (2023)
Summary
Massimo Mazzotti's essay links foundational anxieties in 18th- and 19th-century mathematics to political imagination, using revolutionary Naples as a case study. It contrasts synthetic geometry with modern analysis to show how mathematics can shape and reflect political order, while later developments in mathematics facilitated liberal normalization. The piece argues that mathematics is not neutral but deeply embedded in political life.