Single Idea 23448

[catalogued under 6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 7. Mathematical Structuralism / a. Structuralism]

Full Idea

Philosophical structuralism holds that mathematics is the study of abstract structures, or 'patterns'. If mathematics is the study of all possible patterns, then it is inevitable that the world is described by mathematics.

Gist of Idea

Mathematics is the study of all possible patterns, and is thus bound to describe the world

Source

Øystein Linnebo (Philosophy of Mathematics [2017], 11.1)

Book Reference

Linnebo,Øystein: 'Philosophy of Mathematics' [Princeton 2017], p.155


A Reaction

[He cites the physicist John Barrow (2010) for this] For me this is a major idea, because the concept of a pattern gives a link between the natural physical world and the abstract world of mathematics. No platonism is needed.