FOM: Dedekind on Numbers

[wtait@ix.netcom.com]

Walter, Thank you for the quotes from Dedekind and the comments on them. I like

>that is created by the mind. We are of divine descent and we no
>     doubt posses creative power not only in things material
>     (railways, telegraphs), but particularly in things
>     mental. ]


Dedekind also speaks in ``Was sind und was sollen die Zahlen?'' of `free creation of the human mind' (Preface and § 73) 

But I hate to mention these remarks of Dedekind in public, so to speak. Some of the analytic philosophers, who like to attack the form of expression without looking for the real content, read the remarks as psychologistic: numbers are `mental objects', existing in our minds. (Is your number 1 the same as mine?---etc.) A sad case of this is in Michael Dummett's book: _Frege: Philosophy of Mathematics_. 

Bill Tait