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Argomenti di indispensabilità in filosofia della matematica
Sereni, Andrea
2010
Abstract
Suppose there are true or well-confirmed scientific theories, and that some mathematical theories turn out to be indispensable to them, in some sense to be further specified. If we assume that these scientific theories can be true (or well-confirmed) only if the mathematical theories that are indispensable to them are true (or well-confirmed), we can conclude that the latter are also true (or well-confirmed). If we also believe that these mathematical theories are about a given domain of objects, and can be true (or well-confirmed) only if these objects exist (or if we are justified in believing that they exist), we can conclude that they exist (or that we are justified in believing that they do). This is, in a nutshell, the core idea underlying the indispensability argument, which was originally suggested by Quine and Putnam, and which is now the source of a vast philosophical debate. Despite its apparent simplicity, the argument can in fact appeal to a number of controversial assumptions and notions. Also for this reason, there are several different versions of the argument that can be offered and discussed.
Journal
Publisher
EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste
Source
Andrea Sereni, "Argomenti di indispensabilità in filosofia della matematica", in "APhEx 1", 2010, pp. 20
Languages
it
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