Epistemology of mathematics: What are the questions? What count as answers?

Stewart Shapiro

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Fraser MacBride’s provocative and interesting paper, “Can ante rem structuralism solve the access problem?” (this journal, volume 58 (2008), 155-164), raises important issues concerning the epistemological goals and burdens of contemporary philosophy of mathematics, and perhaps philosophy of science and other disciplines as well. In this paper, I use a response to MacBride’s paper as a framework for developing a broadly holistic framework for such issues, an attempt to steer a middle course between a reductive, foundationalism and an extreme naturalistic quietism. For this purpose, the notion of entitlement is invoked along the way, suitably modified for the present, anti-foundationalist setting.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)130-150
Number of pages21
JournalThe Philosophical Quarterly
Volume61
Issue number242
Early online date23 Feb 2010
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2011

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