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I'm a graduate student in philosophy in my late 30s, who didn't study mathematics for the last fifteen years or so. As a part of my studies/research in European philosophy/contemporary French thought, I had to deal a lot with philosophies of nature, and although I had run away from mathematics before the end of high school, I landed very close to the philosophy of physics (theories about time, specifically), and so I found myself mesmerized by mathematics at this late(r) moment in life. I worked via self-study through the high school level of mathematics equivalent to the UK A-levels (don't laugh, I seriously had hated math), and then studied the equivalent of two undergraduate courses in linear algebra and one in geometry, followed by foundations of calculus, so I was wondering if someone had any advice of where to go from here via self-study, esp. as I'm interested in the writing of proofs. That said, I'm not going in any specific direction at the moment, just trying to slowly work my way through a level of math that would allow me to vaguely understand graduate level math for physics one distant day, esp. topology. That said, I'm obviously not that young anymore so I probably won't become a math whizz and still have a graduate degree to complete, but also obviously my experience with logic and epistemology has shaped a lot of the way in which I look at the mathematics now, so I suppose I would like to pursue further options/topics/subfields that are not too basic but also not math for mathematicians.

dilmunite
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    Please clarify your specific problem or provide additional details to highlight exactly what you need. As it's currently written, it's hard to tell exactly what you're asking. – Community May 07 '23 at 22:23
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    Late 30s is not late in life. – Shaun May 07 '23 at 22:27
  • Questions concerning personal advice are off topic here. – Shaun May 07 '23 at 22:28
  • I'd say shy of 40 is still young. – Shaun May 07 '23 at 22:29
  • But what do I know? I'm in my early 30s. – Shaun May 07 '23 at 22:29
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    It's never a good idea to give academic advice to someone one knows nothing about. Great advice for one person might be terrible advice for another. Talk to people familiar with your work, in whatever field. – lulu May 07 '23 at 22:39
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    I think this is off-topic for MSE as @Shaun says. (BTW, the pair of you are much younger than me!). If you are studying a philosophy course, can you not consult one of your professors? – Rob Arthan May 07 '23 at 22:41
  • While echoing the comments about personal advice, it seems that mathematical logic is an obvious choice. Take a look at an introductory text or set of notes. (If not your thing, then not much wasted.) – Michael Weiss May 07 '23 at 23:00
  • Random selection of books maybe worth looking at, not necessarily exactly what you asked for: Wilder 1965/2012 & Dodson/Poston 1991 & Sklar 1977 & Schlesinger 1980 (I took his course using this book) & D’Abro 1951 — Vol 1, Vol 2. Maybe also of interest -- 1 & 2. – Dave L. Renfro May 07 '23 at 23:10
  • @dilmunite Welcome to Math SE. FYI, I agree with the other comments re: personal advice is off-topic here, and is also on most other sites. However, if you can determine a specific area or field you would like to learn about on your own, then I suggest the Math Educators SE site may be appropriate. Note they have a https://matheducators.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/self-learning tag which would likely be appropriate for you to check on, and possibly use. Nonetheless, before possibly posting there, please read their ... – John Omielan May 07 '23 at 23:27
  • @dilmunite Help center first to determine things like what is, and is not, on topic. Also, I suggest reading at least a few relevant posts to get a feeling for the sort of questions there, as well as checking for any duplicates before possibly posting any questions. Regardless, I wish you well in your attempt at math self-education. – John Omielan May 07 '23 at 23:29
  • @dilmunite I made a mistake in an earlier comment. The Math Educators SE site tag I was trying to link is the self-learning one. – John Omielan May 08 '23 at 00:35

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