Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-mp689 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T06:35:11.487Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 4 - Logic, mathematics, and conceptual structuralism

from Part I - The Main Positions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 October 2014

Penelope Rush
Affiliation:
University of Tasmania
Get access

Summary

Logic is integral to mathematics and, to the extent that is the case, a philosophy of logic should be integral to a philosophy of mathematics. The aim of the mathematician working in the mainstream is to establish truths about mathematical concepts by means of proofs as the principal instrument. There are other dimensions of mathematical practice that reward metamathematical study motivated by the philosophy of conceptual structuralism. One is the open-ended nature of certain principles such as that of induction for the integers and comprehension for sets. This accords with the fact that in the development of mathematics what concepts are recognized to be definite evolve with time. Thus one cannot fix in advance all applications of these open-ended schematic principles by restriction to those instances definable in one or another formal language, as is currently done in the study of formal systems.
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×