Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Anaxarchus, Richard Wollheim and Richard G. Heck

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3 ideas

6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 1. Mathematical Platonism / b. Against mathematical platonism
Children can use numbers, without a concept of them as countable objects [Heck]
     Full Idea: For a long time my daughter had no understanding of the question of how many numerals or numbers there are between 'one' and 'five'. I think she lacked the concept of numerals as objects which can themselves be counted.
     From: Richard G. Heck (Cardinality, Counting and Equinumerosity [2000], 5)
     A reaction: I can't make any sense of numbers actually being objects, though clearly treating all sorts of things as objects helps thinking (as in 'the victory is all that matters').
6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 6. Logicism / d. Logicism critique
Equinumerosity is not the same concept as one-one correspondence [Heck]
     Full Idea: Equinumerosity is not the same concept as being in one-one correspondence with.
     From: Richard G. Heck (Cardinality, Counting and Equinumerosity [2000], 6)
     A reaction: He says this is the case, even if they are coextensive, like renate and cordate. You can see that five loaves are equinumerous with five fishes, without doing a one-one matchup.
We can understand cardinality without the idea of one-one correspondence [Heck]
     Full Idea: One can have a perfectly serviceable concept of cardinality without so much as having the concept of one-one correspondence.
     From: Richard G. Heck (Cardinality, Counting and Equinumerosity [2000], 3)
     A reaction: This is the culmination of a lengthy discussion. It includes citations about the psychology of children's counting. Cardinality needs one group of things, and 1-1 needs two groups.