cpollett
January 14, 2005, 01:35 PM
Howdy,
This is my first post so hopefully this is in the correct forum. I was wondering what philosophies of mathematics most atheists have? (Quasi-poll question) Are there any atheists out there who are platonists? If so, what is your rational? I consider someone a platonist if they believe ideal mathematical entities exists somewhere. For instance, Plato believed that the platonic solids existed in perfect form somewhere. Godel believed sets really exist. Just in case you are a fuzzy-platonist --believe that some mathematical objects exist, but that others don't -- where do you draw the line and why? For instance, maybe you believe the numbers you have used in your lifetime exist, the natural numbers exists, the real numbers exist, etc. Formatists and constructivist and others can feel free to weigh in to.
Chris
This is my first post so hopefully this is in the correct forum. I was wondering what philosophies of mathematics most atheists have? (Quasi-poll question) Are there any atheists out there who are platonists? If so, what is your rational? I consider someone a platonist if they believe ideal mathematical entities exists somewhere. For instance, Plato believed that the platonic solids existed in perfect form somewhere. Godel believed sets really exist. Just in case you are a fuzzy-platonist --believe that some mathematical objects exist, but that others don't -- where do you draw the line and why? For instance, maybe you believe the numbers you have used in your lifetime exist, the natural numbers exists, the real numbers exist, etc. Formatists and constructivist and others can feel free to weigh in to.
Chris