A problem of logic and conscience in mathematical education

Abstract

An identity cannot be proved so that the assertion is the premise and a self‐evident identity is the conclusion. This logical fact gives rise to a problem of conscience; how to rate such a mistake, when evidently the teaching in the class was incorrect and the class, as a whole, is misguided. While the problem of logic is clear, the present writer has not been able to give an unambiguous answer to the problem of conscience.