Number Concepts - An Interdisciplinary Inquiry

This Element, written for researchers and students in philosophy and the behavioral sciences, reviews and critically assesses extant work on number concepts in developmental psychology and cognitive science. It has four main aims. First, it characterizes the core commitments of mainstream number cognition research, including the commitment to representationalism, the hypothesis that there exist certain number-specific cognitive systems, and the key milestones in the development of number cognition. Second, it provides a taxonomy of influential views within mainstream number cognition research, along with the central challenges these views face. Third, it identifies and critically assesses a series of core philosophical assumptions often adopted by number cognition researchers. Finally, the Element articulates and defends a novel version of pluralism about number concepts.

List of contents

1. Introduction; 2. The mainstream; 3. The acquisition problem; 4. Assessing the mainstream; References.

Summary

This Element aims to review and critically assess research on number-concepts within developmental psychology and cognitive science, in a manner that is helpful to researchers within both philosophy and the relevant sciences.

Product details

• Authors: Richard Samuels, Richard (Ohio State University) Snyder Samuels, Samuels Richard, Eric Snyder
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 15.02.2024
• EAN: 9781009462532
• ISBN: 978-1-0-0946253-2
• No. of pages: 100
• Series: Elements in the Philosophy of Mathematics
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works; PHILOSOPHY / General, Philosophy, Philosophy of Mathematics, Early years: numbers and counting, Number systems