Author | Hartry Field |
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Language | English |
Subjects | Philosophy of mathematics |
Publisher |
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Publication date | 1980 |
Publication place | United States |
Pages | 130 |
ISBN | 978-0-631-12672-0 |
OCLC | 967261539 |
Website | Oxford Academic |
Science Without Numbers: A Defence of Nominalism is a 1980 book on the philosophy of mathematics by Hartry Field. In the book, Field defends nominalism, the view that mathematical objects such as numbers do not exist. The book was written broadly in response to an argument for the existence of mathematical objects called the indispensability argument. According to the argument, belief in mathematical objects is justified because mathematics is indispensable to science. The main project of the book is producing technical reconstructions of science that remove reference to mathematical entities, hence showing that mathematics is not indispensable to science.