What Are Numbers? - Philosophy Talk

What this episode covers

Plato claimed that numbers exist in some mind-independent abstract heaven. Nominalists claim that there is no such heaven. Clearly, we can’t see, hear, taste or feel numbers. But if there are no numbers what is mathematics all about? John and Ken count on a great discussion with Gideon Rosen from Princeton University, co-author of A Subject With No Object: Strategies for Nominalistic Interpretation of Mathematics.

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How long is this episode of Philosophy Talk?

This episode is 50 minutes long.

When was this Philosophy Talk episode published?

This episode was published on March 14, 2006.

What is this episode about?

Plato claimed that numbers exist in some mind-independent abstract heaven. Nominalists claim that there is no such heaven. Clearly, we can’t see, hear, taste or feel numbers. But if there are no numbers what is mathematics all about? John and Ken...

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