Numbers as Cognitive Tools
An Empirically Informed Nominalistic Account of the Nature of Numbers
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Beschreibung
This books offers a novel account of the nature of numbers firmly grounded in results from numerical cognition and the philosophy of mathematics. Drawing on empirical data on the human experience of what we call “numbers,” the author shows that numbers do not exist as abstract objects, but that the idea that they do is a useful cognitive tool. Contrary to the platonist view, according to which arithmetic is true of a realm of abstract entities, the nominalistic account presented in this book shows arithmetic to be true of descriptions of structural properties of techniques such as counting and calculating procedures. This book is of interest to both philosophers and cognitive scientists who want to have a deeper understanding of what numbers are.
This books offers a novel account of the nature of numbers firmly grounded in results from numerical cognition and the philosophy of mathematics. Drawing on empirical data on the human experience of what we call “numbers,” the author shows that numbers do not exist as abstract objects, but that the idea that they do is a useful cognitive tool. Contrary to the platonist view, according to which arithmetic is true of a realm of abstract entities, the nominalistic account presented in this book shows arithmetic to be true of descriptions of structural properties of techniques such as counting and calculating procedures. This book is of interest to both philosophers and cognitive scientists who want to have a deeper understanding of what numbers are.
Presents a unified account of the nature of numbers Offers a hypothesis about the nature of numbers that is accountable towards empirical data, and thus refutable on an empirical basis Does justice to empirical findings in numerical cognition and the long tradition of philosophical reflection on the ontological status of numbers
Autor*in
César Frederico dos Santos
Themen in »Numbers as Cognitive Tools«
philosophy of mathematics numerical cognition ontology of arithmetic anti-platonism Quantical cognition