Too naturalist and not naturalist enough: Reply to Horsten

Erkenntnis 69 (2):261 - 274 (2008)
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Abstract

Leon Horsten has recently claimed that the class of mathematical truths coincides with the class of theorems of ZFC. I argue that the naturalistic character of Horsten’s proposal undermines his contention that this claim constitutes an analogue of a thesis that Daniel Isaacson has advanced for PA. I argue, moreover, that Horsten’s defence of his claim against an obvious objection makes use of a distinction which is not available to him given his naturalistic approach. I suggest a way out of the objection which is in line with the naturalistic spirit of Horsten’s proposal but which further weakens the analogy with Isaacson’s Thesis. I conclude by evaluating the prospects for providing an analogue of Isaacson’s Thesis for ZFC.

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Luca Incurvati
University of Amsterdam

References found in this work

The Foundations of Mathematics and Other Logical Essays.Frank Plumpton Ramsey - 1925 - London, England: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Edited by R. B. Braithwaite.
Naturalism in mathematics.Penelope Maddy - 1997 - New York: Oxford University Press.
Collected works.Kurt Gödel - 1986 - New York: Oxford University Press. Edited by Solomon Feferman.
How we learn mathematical language.Vann McGee - 1997 - Philosophical Review 106 (1):35-68.

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