Mathematical necessity and reality

Australasian Journal of Philosophy 67 (3):286 – 294 (1989)
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Abstract

Einstein, like most philosophers, thought that there cannot be mathematical truths which are both necessary and about reality. The article argues against this, starting with prima facie examples such as "It is impossible to tile my bathroom floor with regular pentagonal tiles." Replies are given to objections based on the supposedly purely logical or hypothetical nature of mathematics

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10.1080/00048408912350131

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James Franklin
University of New South Wales

Citations of this work

The formal sciences discover the philosophers' stone.James Franklin - 1994 - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 25 (4):513-533.
Two caricatures, II: Leibniz's best world.J. Franklin - 2002 - International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 52 (1):45-56.

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References found in this work

Metaphysics. Aristotle - 1952 - New York,: Columbia University Press. Edited by Richard Hope.
Mysticism and logic, and other essays.Bertrand Russell - 1917 - Totowa, N.J.: Barnes & Noble.
Logicism revisited.Alan Musgrave - 1977 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 28 (2):99-127.
Abstraction, relation, and induction.Julius Rudolph Weinberg - 1965 - Madison, WI, USA: University of Wisconsin Press.

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