Ideas from 'The Question of Ontology' by Kit Fine [2009], by Theme Structure
[found in 'Metametaphysics' (ed/tr Chalmers/Manley/Wasserman) [OUP 2009,978-0-19-954600-8]].
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6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 5. Definitions of Number / c. Fregean numbers
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The existence of numbers is not a matter of identities, but of constituents of the world
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6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 1. Mathematical Platonism / b. Against mathematical platonism
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It is plausible that x^2 = -1 had no solutions before complex numbers were 'introduced'
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6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / a. Mathematical empiricism
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The indispensability argument shows that nature is non-numerical, not the denial of numbers
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7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 1. Nature of Existence
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'Exists' is a predicate, not a quantifier; 'electrons exist' is like 'electrons spin'
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7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 4. Abstract Existence
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Just as we introduced complex numbers, so we introduced sums and temporal parts
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7. Existence / A. Nature of Existence / 6. Criterion for Existence
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Real objects are those which figure in the facts that constitute reality
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Being real and being fundamental are separate; Thales's water might be real and divisible
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7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 1. Ontologies
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For ontology we need, not internal or external views, but a view from outside reality
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7. Existence / D. Theories of Reality / 11. Ontological Commitment / b. Commitment of quantifiers
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Ontological claims are often universal, and not a matter of existential quantification
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