philosophy of mathematics
philosophy of mathematics
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philosophy of mathematics

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Last Updated: Article History
Key People:
Hilary Putnam Bertrand Russell Alfred North Whitehead Henri Poincaré Gottlob Frege
Related Topics:
mathematics foundations of mathematics philosophy
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philosophy of mathematics, branch of philosophy that is concerned with two major questions: one concerning the meanings of ordinary mathematical sentences and the other concerning the issue of whether abstract objects exist. The first is a straightforward question of interpretation: What is the best way to interpret standard mathematical sentences and theories? In other words, what is really meant by ordinary mathematical sentences such as “3 is prime,” “2 + 2 = 4,” and “There are infinitely many prime numbers.” Thus, a central task of the philosophy of mathematics is to construct a semantic theory for the language of mathematics. ...(100 of 7358 words)

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