[FOM] Advertising an approach to the philosophy of mathematics (with some logical technical work)

[David Auerbach]

On Sep 8, at 7:46 PM, Robbie Lindauer wrote:

> He goes on to characterize mathematics as an outgrowth of human
> cognitive function:
> 	"For the philosophy of mathematics, this means that human
> mathematical practices are human brains’ cognitive activities. "
>
> I take this to be a classical statement of Naturalism.

The statement quoted above seems a fairly weak form of Naturalism and  
compatible with some flavors of Platonism. It would be stronger if  
you added that our human mathematical practices exhaust (in some way  
to be spelled out) the content of mathematics. And I think that  
something like that is the import of *other* of Feng's remarks in the  
email. That is, to get a much stronger anti-platonistic view you need  
something like " a scientific explanation of the applicability of  
mathematics." It strikes me that that's where all the bite and all  
the work is.




David Auerbach
Department of Philosophy & Religion
Box 8103
NCSU
Raleigh, NC  27695-8103