Extremely interesting and deserves the attention of anyone with a serious interest in the field ... a careful study of the book will be enormously rewarding to anyone with some prior exposure to the field.
Philosophia Mathematica
Do numbers, sets, and so forth, exist? What do mathematical statements mean? Are they literally true or false, or do they lack truth values altogether? Addressing questions that have attracted lively debate in recent years, Stewart Shapiro contends that standard realist and antirealist accounts of mathematics are both problematic.
As Benacerraf first noted, we are confronted with the following powerful dilemma. The desired continuity between mathematical and, say, scientific language suggests realism, but realism in this context suggests seemingly intractable epistemic problems. As a way out of this dilemma, Shapiro articulates a structuralist approach. On this view, the subject matter of arithmetic, for example, is not a fixed domain of numbers independent of each other, but rather is the natural number structure, the pattern common to any system of objects that has an initial object and successor relation satisfying the induction principle. Using this framework, realism in mathematics can be preserved without troublesome epistemic consequences.
Shapiro concludes by showing how a structuralist approach can be applied to wider philosophical questions such as the nature of an "object" and the Quinean nature of ontological commitment. Clear, compelling, and tautly argued, Shapiro's work, noteworthy both in its attempt to develop a full-length structuralist approach to mathematics and to trace its emergence in the history of mathematics, will be of deep interest to both philosophers and mathematicians.
Les mer
A structuralist approach to mathematical theory in which Shapiro argues that both realist and anti-realist accounts of mathematics are problematic . He claims that mathematical theory is not a fixed domain of numbers that exist independent of one another, but a natural structure with an initial object and successor relation.
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"Clearly and charmingly written, and provides a strong defence of structuralism....There is no doubt that the book represents an important and original contribution to the field, and deserves to be widely read and discussed."--Mathematical Reviews
"This book is an important contribution...presenting an original, structuralist philosophy and axiomatic framework in comprehensive detail, placing it in broad philosophical and historical perspective, and comparing it systematically with other approaches seen as leading structuralist alternatives to the one set forth by Shapiro himself....this is an interesting, important, and thought-provoking book, sure to stimulate further work in developing structuralist
philosophy in mathematics."--Journal of Symbolic Logic
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A cross-disciplinary achievement in both both philosophy and mathematics
A cross-disciplinary achievement in both both philosophy and mathematics
Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780195139303
Publisert
2000
Utgiver
Oxford University Press Inc
Vekt
431 gr
Høyde
231 mm
Bredde
160 mm
Dybde
19 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
296
Forfatter