Normal view MARC view ISBD view

Horsten, Leon,

The metaphysics and mathematics of arbitrary objects / Leon Horsten, University of Bristol. - 1 online resource (xvii, 231 pages) : illustrations

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Building on the seminal work of Kit Fine in the 1980s, Leon Horsten here develops a new theory of arbitrary entities. He connects this theory to issues and debates in metaphysics, logic, and contemporary philosophy of mathematics, investigating the relation between specific and arbitrary objects and between specific and arbitrary systems of objects. His book shows how this innovative theory is highly applicable to problems in the philosophy of arithmetic, and explores in particular how arbitrary objects can engage with the nineteenth-century concept of variable mathematical quantities, how they are relevant for debates around mathematical structuralism, and how they can help our understanding of the concept of random variables in statistics. This fully worked through theory will open up new avenues within philosophy of mathematics, bringing in the work of other philosophers such as Saul Kripke, and providing new insights into the development of the foundations of mathematics from the eighteenth century to the present day.

ISBN: 9781139600293 113960029X 9781108601771 1108601774

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Logic, Symbolic and mathematical.
Mathematics--Philosophy.
Mathematical recreations.
Metaphysics.
Random variables.
Variables (Mathematics)
Abstraction.
Probabilities--Philosophy.
MATHEMATICS / Essays
MATHEMATICS / Pre-Calculus
MATHEMATICS / Reference
Abstraction.
Mathematical recreations.
Mathematics--Philosophy.
Metaphysics.
Probabilities--Philosophy.
Random variables.
Variables (Mathematics)

Index Terms--Genre/Form:
Electronic books.

LC Class. No.: QA8.4 / .H67 2019eb

Dewey Class. No.: 510.1