The Metaphysics and Mathematics of Arbitrary Objects - Softcover

Horsten, Leon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1108706592 ISBN 13: 9781108706599

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2021

Synopsis

Building on the seminal work of Kit Fine in the 1980s, Leon Horsten here develops a new theory of arbitrary entities. He connects this theory to issues and debates in metaphysics, logic, and contemporary philosophy of mathematics, investigating the relation between specific and arbitrary objects and between specific and arbitrary systems of objects. His book shows how this innovative theory is highly applicable to problems in the philosophy of arithmetic, and explores in particular how arbitrary objects can engage with the nineteenth-century concept of variable mathematical quantities, how they are relevant for debates around mathematical structuralism, and how they can help our understanding of the concept of random variables in statistics. This fully worked through theory will open up new avenues within philosophy of mathematics, bringing in the work of other philosophers such as Saul Kripke, and providing new insights into the development of the foundations of mathematics from the eighteenth century to the present day.

About this title

About the Author

Leon Horsten is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Bristol. His publications include The Tarskian Turn: Deflationism and Axiomatic Truth (2011) and Gödel's Disjunction: The Scope and Limits of Mathematical Knowledge (co-edited with Philip Welch, 2016).

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1108706592
• ISBN 13: 9781108706599
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 250