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IMAGINE THERE'S NO (PLATONIC) HEAVEN

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2014

Matteo Plebani
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Abstract

Some people think that numbers and other mathematical entities exist. They believe in a platonic heaven of ideal mathematical objects, as some (other) people like to put it. This may seem a very strange thing to believe in: after all, we cannot see numbers, nor touch them, nor smell them. So why should one believe that they exist? Because, as Putnam and Quine used to say, numbers are indispensable to science: it seems almost impossible to state our best scientific theories without mentioning numbers or other mathematical objects.

Type
Research Article
Information
Think , Volume 14 , Issue 39 , Spring 2015 , pp. 73 - 75
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 2015 

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