Full Idea
Ordinary perceptual cognition is most likely involved in our grasp of elementary arithmetic, but ...this connection to the physical world has long since been idealized away in the infinitary structures of contemporary pure mathematics.
Gist of Idea
The connection of arithmetic to perception has been idealised away in modern infinitary mathematics
Source
Penelope Maddy (Defending the Axioms [2011], 2.3)
Book Reference
Maddy,Penelope: 'Defending the Axioms' [OUP 2013], p.53
A Reaction
Despite this, Maddy's quest is for a 'naturalistic' account of mathematics. She ends up defending 'objectivity' (and invoking Tyler Burge), rather than even modest realism. You can't 'idealise away' the counting of objects. I blame Cantor.
Related Idea
Idea 17612 Arithmetic is just the consequence of counting, which is the successor operation [Dedekind]