Formalism in the Philosophy of Mathematics (2015)

plato.stanford.edu

42 points·lainon··6 comments

The working mathematician is a Platonist on weekdays, a formalist on weekends. On weekdays, when doing mathematics, he’s a Platonist, convinced he’s dealing with an objective reality whose properties he’s trying to determine. On weekends, if challenged to give a philosophical account of this reality, it’s easiest to pretend he doesn’t believe in it. He plays formalist, and pretends mathematics is a meaningless game

Reuben Hersh

This seems paradox. Did he perhaps say that on a weekend?

Most paradoxes are actually solvable, so I take issue with this metamathematical dissonance. I'll take it as a humble admission of ignorance and a resolution to (syn-)tactfully avoid getting into philosophical (sem-)antics to, instead, teach the first ground truth of the fight club by example (don't talk about it, do it).

"An Aristotelian Realist Philosophy of Mathematics: Mathematics as the Science of Quantity and Structure" by J. Franklin.

Nice article, but too specialized and it can be a bit complicated to read it. So, if you need problems with understanding it, write me at https://handmadewritings.com and I will explain to you any tough moments!

Let's not forget constructivism. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/mathematics-constructive/

Argh..too much jargon, had to stop reading..

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