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Full Idea
It is natural nowadays to think of variables as a certain kind of sign, but I wish to think of them as a certain kind of object.
Gist of Idea
I think of variables as objects rather than as signs
Source
Kit Fine (Cantorian Abstraction: Recon. and Defence [1998], §2)
Book Ref
-: 'Journal of Philosophy' [-], p.7
A Reaction
Fine has a theory based on 'arbitrary objects', which is a rather charming idea. The cell of a spreadsheet is a kind of object, I suppose. A variable might be analogous to a point in space, where objects can locate themselves.
| 9146 | After abstraction all numbers seem identical, so only 0 and 1 will exist! [Fine,K] |
| 9148 | I think of variables as objects rather than as signs [Fine,K] |
| 9149 | To obtain the number 2 by abstraction, we only want to abstract the distinctness of a pair of objects [Fine,K] |
| 9150 | We should define abstraction in general, with number abstraction taken as a special case [Fine,K] |
| 9152 | If green is abstracted from a thing, it is only seen as a type if it is common to many things [Fine,K] |