Single Idea 17717

[catalogued under 6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / a. Mathematical empiricism]

Full Idea

I propose that arithmetical truths are known through an examination of our own arithmetical concepts; that basic arithmetical concepts map the arithmetical structure of the world; that the map obtains in virtue of our normal sensory apparatus.

Gist of Idea

Senses produce concepts that map the world, and arithmetic is known through these concepts

Source

Carrie Jenkins (Grounding Concepts [2008], Pref)

Book Reference

Jenkins,Carrie: 'Grounding Concepts' [OUP 2008], p.-5


A Reaction

She defends the nice but unusual position that arithmetical knowledge is both a priori and empirical (so that those two notions are not, as usually thought, opposed). I am a big Carrie Jenkins fan.