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Single Idea 3143

[filed under theme 6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / b. Indispensability of mathematics ]

Full Idea

Physics is committed to arithmetic, which seems committed to abstract objects such as numbers, and its causal explanations seem to appeal to properties, such as mass and charge.

Clarification

Hence even physics must apparently accept the existence of things which are not obviously physical

Gist of Idea

Physics requires the existence of properties, and also the abstract objects of arithmetic

Source

Georges Rey (Contemporary Philosophy of Mind [1997], 2.3)

Book Ref

Rey,Georges: 'Contemporary Philosophy of Mind' [Blackwell 1997], p.46