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Single Idea 9885

[filed under theme 9. Objects / A. Existence of Objects / 2. Abstract Objects / a. Nature of abstracta ]

Full Idea

The existence of abstract objects is a pseudo-problem.

Gist of Idea

The existence of abstract objects is a pseudo-problem

Source

Michael Dummett (Frege philosophy of mathematics [1991], Ch.18)

Book Ref

Dummett,Michael: 'Frege: philosophy of mathematics' [Duckworth 1991], p.240

A Reaction

This remark follows after Idea 9884, which says the abstract/concrete distinction is a sliding scale. Personally I take the distinction to be fairly sharp, and it is therefore probably the single most important problem in the whole of human thought.

Related Idea

Idea 9884 The distinction of concrete/abstract, or actual/non-actual, is a scale, not a dichotomy [Dummett]

The 16 ideas with the same theme [what we should take abstract object to be]:

9607 The greatest discovery in human thought is Plato's discovery of abstract objects [Brown,JR on Plato]
16086 Objects lacking matter are intrinsic unities [Aristotle]
12990 Real (non-logical) abstract terms are either essences or accidents [Leibniz]
8647 Not all objects are spatial; 4 can still be an object, despite lacking spatial co-ordinates [Frege]
10545 Abstract objects may not cause changes, but they can be the subject of change [Dummett]
9885 The existence of abstract objects is a pseudo-problem [Dummett]
10487 I am a fan of abstract objects, and confident of their existence [Boolos]
10414 Abstract objects are constituted by encoded collections of properties [Zalta, by Swoyer]
10558 Abstract objects are actually constituted by the properties by which we conceive them [Zalta]
17785 Real numbers as abstracted objects are now treated as complete ordered fields [Mayberry]
10403 If properties are abstract objects, then their being abstract exemplifies being abstract [Swoyer]
10513 Many abstract objects, such as chess, seem non-spatial, but are not atemporal [Hale]
10514 If the mental is non-spatial but temporal, then it must be classified as abstract [Hale]
10518 Shapes and directions are of something, but games and musical compositions are not [Hale]
10523 Being abstract is based on a relation between things which are spatially separated [Hale]
8704 Structuralists call a mathematical 'object' simply a 'place in a structure' [Friend]