display all the ideas for this combination of texts
1 idea
9148 | I think of variables as objects rather than as signs [Fine,K] |
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. | |
From: Kit Fine (Cantorian Abstraction: Recon. and Defence [1998], §2) | |
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. |