Mathematics and Reality

Zusatztext this book has the potential to serve as a source of productive disagreement that would significantly advance the realism-anti-realism debate in mathematics. Informationen zum Autor Mary Leng is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of York. She previously held a research fellowship at St John's College, Cambridge (2002-2006), and visiting fellowships at the University of California at Irvine (2001) and the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Study at the University of British Columbia (2003). Her primary research interests are in the Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic, and the Philosophy of Science. She is the co-editor (with Alexander Paseau and Michael Potter) of Mathematical Knowledge (Oxford: OUP, 2007). Klappentext Mary Leng defends a philosophical account of the nature of mathematics which views it as a kind of fiction (albeit an extremely useful fiction). On this view! the claims of our ordinary mathematical theories are more closely analogous to utterances made in the context of storytelling than to utterances whose aim is to assert literal truths. Zusammenfassung Mary Leng defends a philosophical account of the nature of mathematics which views it as a kind of fiction (albeit an extremely useful fiction). On this view, the claims of our ordinary mathematical theories are more closely analogous to utterances made in the context of storytelling than to utterances whose aim is to assert literal truths. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1: Introduction 2: Naturalism and Ontology 3: The Indispensability of Mathematics 4: Naturalism and Mathematical Practice 5: Naturalism and Scientific Practice 6: Naturalized Ontology 7: Mathematics and Make-Believe 8: Mathematical Fictionalism and Constructive Empiricism 9: Explaining the Success of Mathematics 10: Conclusion

Product details

• Authors: Mary Leng, Mary (University of York) Leng, Leng Mary
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 21.03.2013
• EAN: 9780199674688
• ISBN: 978-0-19-967468-8
• No. of pages: 290
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / Epistemology, PHILOSOPHY / Metaphysics, MATHEMATICS / History & Philosophy, Mathematics, Philosophy: metaphysics & ontology, Philosophy of Mathematics, Philosophy: metaphysics and ontology, Philosophy: epistemology & theory of knowledge, Philosophy: epistemology and theory of knowledge