Philosophy of Mathematics Structure and Ontology

Do numbers, sets, and so forth exist? What do mathematical statements mean? Are they literally true or false, or do they lack truth values altogether? Addressing these questions that have attracted lively debate in recent years, Stewart Shapiro argues that standard realist and antirealist accounts of mathematics are both problematic. To resolve this dilemma, he articulates a "structuralist" approach, arguing that the subject matter of a mathematical theory is not a fixed domain of numbers, existing independently, but simply a natural structure, the pattern common to any system that follows the general laws of addition. Shapiro concludes by showing how his approach can be applied to wider philosophical questions such as the nature of an object. Clear, compelling, and tautly argued it will be of deep interest to both philosophers and mathematicians.

Stewart Shapiro is Professor of Philosophy at Ohio State University at Newark and the University of St. Andrews, Scotland.