On the computational meaning of axioms

Abstract : This paper investigates an anti-realist theory of meaning suitable for both logical and proper axioms. Unlike other anti-realist accounts such as Dummett–Prawitz verificationism, the standard framework of classical logic is not called into question. This account also admits semantic features beyond the inferential ones: computational aspects play an essential role in the determination of meaning. To deal with these computational aspects, a relaxation of syntax is necessary. This leads to a general kind of proof theory, where the objects of study are not typed objects like deductions, but rather untyped ones, in which formulas are replaced by geometrical configurations.