How does one avoid Platonism in mathematics?

Question

If mathematical objects are not real, then what imbues mathematics with its meaning

Answer 1

relations and functions... not the numbers or number theory

equality and inequality

remember mathematics is not (always) an abstract thought.... although it is at times... it is primarily a symbolic language used to communicate ideas in a more efficient and manipulable format

Answer 2

An object does not have to physically exist in order to be a Platonic Form. Some concepts in mathematics are not platonic ideal forms, while some are. A couple examples:

Base 10 number system - not an ideal form. Base 10 is arbitrary.
Pi - ideal form.
Algebraic notation - not an ideal form. Notation is arbitrary
Prime numbers - ideal forms

Answer 3

Some mathematical objects are real - like the question about which train will get to St. Louis first. Those are real applications.

Anyway, numbers actually are objects - they just aren't tangible objects. Numbers are representatives of quantities, kind of like adjectives in grammar. You can have four cans of soup, but you can't just have "four." You can have yellow bananas, but you can't have just "yellow."

Mathematicians find patterns in order to predict outcomes. That is the base line meaning to math. I guess you could say math has about as much meaning as philosophy...

Answer 4

Why should we avoid Platonism?

Answer 5

Mathematics as modeling physical reality are merely *abstracted features* from physical being|


These three articles of mine explain this:
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Suprageometricity
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/catholiccommunity/message/86535


Topics in Suprageometricity
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/catholiccommunity/message/86536


Against the New "Reformation" of John Spong
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http://tcrnews2.com/spong.html






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Answer 6

no