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SARAH HOFFMAN, Kitcher, Ideal Agents, and Fictionalism, Philosophia Mathematica, Volume 12, Issue 1, February 2004, Pages 3–17, https://doi.org/10.1093/philmat/12.1.3
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Abstract
Kitcher urges us to think of mathematics as an idealized science of human operations, rather than a theory describing abstract mathematical objects. I argue that Kitcher's invocation of idealization cannot save mathematical truth and avoid platonism. Nevertheless, what is left of Kitcher's view is worth holding onto. I propose that Kitcher's account should be fictionalized, making use of Walton's and Currie's make-believe theory of fiction, and argue that the resulting ideal-agent fictionalism has advantages over mathematical-object fictionalism.
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© 2004 PHILOSOPHIA MATHEMATICA
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