A subject with no object : strategies for nominalistic interpretation of mathematics

Bibliographic Information

A subject with no object : strategies for nominalistic interpretation of mathematics

John P. Burgess and Gideon Rosen

Clarendon Press , Oxford University Press, 1997

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Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Numbers and other mathematical objects are exceptional in having no locations in space or time or relations of cause and effect. This makes it difficult to account for the possibility of the knowledge of such objects, leading many philosophers to embrace nominalism, the doctrine that there are no such objects, and to embark on ambitious projects for interpreting mathematics so as to preserve the subject while eliminating its objects. A Subject With No Object cuts through a host of technicalities that have obscured previous discussions of these projects, and presents clear, concise accounts, with minimal prerequisites, of a dozen strategies for nominalistic interpretation of mathematics, thus equipping the reader to evaluate each and to compare different ones. The authors also offer critical discussion, rare in the literature, of the aims and claims of nominalistic interpretation, suggesting that it is significant in a very different way from that usually assumed.

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Details

  • NCID
    BA29423021
  • ISBN
    • 0198236158
  • LCCN
    96028175
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Oxford,New York ; Tokyo
  • Pages/Volumes
    x, 259 p.
  • Size
    23 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
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