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Ideas for 'Mind and Its Place in Nature', 'Word and Object' and 'Aesthetic as Science of Expression'

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6. Mathematics / C. Sources of Mathematics / 4. Mathematical Empiricism / b. Indispensability of mathematics

9556	Nearly all of mathematics has to quantify over abstract objects [Quine]
	Full Idea: Mathematics, except for very trivial portions such as very elementary arithmetic, is irredeemably committed to quantification over abstract objects.
	From: Willard Quine (Word and Object [1960], §55)
	A reaction: Personally I would say that we are no more committed to such things than actors in 'The Tempest' are committed to the existence of Prospero and Caliban (which is quite a strong commitment, actually).