The Limits of Reconstructive Neologicist Epistemology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 10690140 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Eileen S Nutting (University of Kansas, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 273 |
| Pages | 717-738 |
| Publication date | 2018-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Philosophical Quarterly (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0031-8094 • E-ISSN: 1467-9213 |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/pq/pqy010 |
| OpenAlex | W2797516518 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 24 |
Wright claims that his and Hale’s abstractionist neologicist project is primarily epistemological in aim. Its epistemological aims include establishing the possibility of a priori mathematical knowledge, and establishing the possibility of reference to abstract mathematical objects. But, as Wright acknowledges, there is a question of how neologicist epistemology applies to actual, ordinary mathematical beliefs. I take up this question, focusing on arithmetic. Following a suggestion of Hale and Wright, I consider the possibility that the neologicist account provides an idealised reconstruction of how people acquire cognition of numbers or arithmetical knowledge. I conclude that it is unlikely that this account can be used to reconstruct even idealised answers to pressing questions about our actual epistemology.
A priori and a posteriori · Arithmetic function · Epistemology · Mathematical practice · Wright · Classical Philosophy and Thought · Computer Science · Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics · Mathematics · Philosophy · Philosophy and Theoretical Science
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |