A Subject With No Object: Strategies for Nominalistic Interpretation of Mathematics - Couverture souple

Burgess, John P.

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 0198250126 ISBN 13 : 9780198250128

Editeur : Oxford University Press, 2000

Synopsis

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 abstract entities, 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.

A propos du livre

À propos de l?auteur

John Burgess is Professor of Philosophy and Gideon Rosen is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University.

Détails de l'édition

• Éditeur: Oxford University Press
• Date d'édition: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0198250126
• ISBN 13: 9780198250128
• Reliure: Broché
• Langue: anglais
• Nombre de pages: 272
• Coordonnées du fabricant: non disponible