Mathematical Pluralism

Noûs 58 (2):306-332 (2024)
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Abstract

Mathematical pluralism can take one of three forms: (1) every consistent mathematical theory consists of truths about its own domain of individuals and relations; (2) every mathematical theory, consistent or inconsistent, consists of truths about its own (possibly uninteresting) domain of individuals and relations; and (3) the principal philosophies of mathematics are each based upon an insight or truth about the nature of mathematics that can be validated. (1) includes the multiverse approach to set theory. (2) helps us to understand the significance of the distinguished non‐logical individual and relation terms of even inconsistent theories. (3) is a metaphilosophical form of mathematical pluralism and hasn't been discussed in the literature. In what follows, I show how the analysis of theoretical mathematics in object theory exhibits all three forms of mathematical pluralism.

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Edward Zalta
Stanford University

Citations of this work

Number Theory and Infinity Without Mathematics.Uri Nodelman & Edward N. Zalta - 2024 - Journal of Philosophical Logic 53 (5):1161-1197.
Infinite Practices, One Mathematics: Challenging Mathematical Pluralism.Melisa Vivanco - 2025 - Journal for General Philosophy of Science / Zeitschrift für Allgemeine Wissenschaftstheorie 56 (1):1-11.

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References found in this work

Mathematical truth.Paul Benacerraf - 1973 - Journal of Philosophy 70 (19):661-679.
What numbers could not be.Paul Benacerraf - 1965 - Philosophical Review 74 (1):47-73.
Realism, Mathematics, and Modality.Hartry Field - 1988 - Philosophical Topics 16 (1):57-107.
Mimesis as Make-Believe: On the Foundations of the Representational Arts.Kendall L. Walton - 1990 - Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 49 (2):161-166.

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