Quentin Anciaux wrote: > Le Vendredi 18 Août 2006 17:02, 1Z a écrit : > > Stathis Papaioannou wrote: > > > Peter Jones writes: > > > > > What's the difference? > > > > > > > > Things that exist are available for causal interaction. Numbers aren't. > > > > > > What could it possibly mean for numbers to "exist" in the sense you claim > > > they do not? Could I be mugged by a burly number 6 in a dark alley? I > > > don't think that even number-worshipping Pythagoras would have > > > entertained such a notion. > > > > It is for Pythagorenas and Platonists to explain what they mean by > > "exist". > > I think it has been said several times : > > The existence of a number/arithmetical proposition is the fact that its > existence/truth does not depend on the fact that you exist/that it exists > conscious beings capable of thinking of it.
That is an explanation of mind-independence, not of existence. The anti-Platonist (e.g. the formalist) can claim that the truth of mathematical statments is mind-independent, but their existence isn't. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
