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Full Idea
Numbers are free creations of the human mind; they serve as a means of apprehending more easily and more sharply the difference of things.
Gist of Idea
Numbers are free creations of the human mind, to understand differences
Source
Richard Dedekind (Nature and Meaning of Numbers [1888], Pref)
Book Ref
Dedekind,Richard: 'Essays on the Theory of Numbers' [Dover 1963], p.31
A Reaction
Does this fit real numbers and complex numbers, as well as natural numbers? Frege was concerned by the lack of objectivity in this sort of view. What sort of arithmetic might the Martians have created? Numbers register sameness too.