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Philosophy of Mathematics Stewart Shapiro (Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy, Ohio State University at Newark)

Philosophy of Mathematics By Stewart Shapiro (Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy, Ohio State University at Newark)

Summary

A structuralist approach to mathematical theory in which Shapiro argues that both realist and anti-realist accounts of mathematics are problematic . He claims that mathematical theory is not a fixed domain of numbers that exist independent of one another, but a natural structure with an initial object and successor relation.

Philosophy of Mathematics Summary

Philosophy of Mathematics: Structure and Ontology by Stewart Shapiro (Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy, Ohio State University at Newark)

Do numbers, sets, and so forth, exist? What do mathematical statements mean? Are they literally true or false, or do they lack truth values altogether? Addressing questions that have attracted lively debate in recent years, Stewart Shapiro contends that standard realist and antirealist accounts of mathematics are both problematic. As Benacerraf first noted, we are confronted with the following powerful dilemma. The desired continuity between mathematical and, say, scientific language suggests realism, but realism in this context suggests seemingly intractable epistemic problems. As a way out of this dilemma, Shapiro articulates a structuralist approach. On this view, the subject matter of arithmetic, for example, is not a fixed domain of numbers independent of each other, but rather is the natural number structure, the pattern common to any system of objects that has an initial object and successor relation satisfying the induction principle. Using this framework, realism in mathematics can be preserved without troublesome epistemic consequences. Shapiro concludes by showing how a structuralist approach can be applied to wider philosophical questions such as the nature of an "object" and the Quinean nature of ontological commitment. Clear, compelling, and tautly argued, Shapiro's work, noteworthy both in its attempt to develop a full-length structuralist approach to mathematics and to trace its emergence in the history of mathematics, will be of deep interest to both philosophers and mathematicians.

Philosophy of Mathematics Reviews

Extremely interesting and deserves the attention of anyone with a serious interest in the field ... a careful study of the book will be enormously rewarding to anyone with some prior exposure to the field. * Philosophia Mathematica *

Additional information

NLS9780195139303
9780195139303
0195139305
Philosophy of Mathematics: Structure and Ontology by Stewart Shapiro (Professor of Philosophy, Professor of Philosophy, Ohio State University at Newark)
New
Paperback
Oxford University Press Inc
2000-10-12
290
N/A
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