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That actually just sounds like good old fashioned nominalism or fictionalism--you'd have to sketch out a more detailed story, but I don't think it's actually di
by hyperpape 11y ago
That actually just sounds like good old fashioned nominalism or fictionalism--you'd have to sketch out a more detailed story, but I don't think it's actually distinct.
- roywiggins 11y agoI'm (probably badly) summarizing Lakoff & Nunez's book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Mathematics_Comes_From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Mathematics_Comes_From Neither are capital-P Philosophers, and I don't remember if they actually make a claim that their ideas are philosophically distinct from fictionalism- they're more worried about platonists! The other approach I'm fond of is saying mathematical objects exist but only inside the heads of mathematicians. As long as mathematicians share a particular idea and can talk about it, it's math. So when I point to the real numbers, I'm pointing at a real thing: the shared idea of them. There's no Platonic realm, but they exist in the mind. It parallels how mathematics is really done (a proof is only a proof if it convinces mathematicians) so I find it compelling on that front.