Think of a number, any number, or properties like fragility and humanity. These and other abstract entities are radically different from concrete entities like electrons and elbows. While concrete entities are located in space and time, have causes and effects, and are known through empirical means, abstract entities seem to be altogether different. They seem to be immutable and imperceptible and to exist necessarily and "outside" of space and time. The peculiar nature of these entities raises hard questions about whether they exist and what they might really be like.
This book provides a thorough introduction to the problems raised by abstract entities and the debates about existence, truth, ontology, and knowledge that surround them. It sets out the key issues that inform the metaphysical disagreement between Platonists who accept abstract entities and nominalists who deny their existence. Beginning with the essentials of the Platonist-nominalist debate, it explores the following arguments and issues that drive the debate over abstract entities:
Throughout the book, key questions about abstract entities are examined in light of foundational work by Frege, Quine, Lewis, and Benacerraf and with an eye toward recent developments in the debate between nominalists and Platonists.
Including chapter summaries, annotated further reading and a glossary, this book is essential reading for anyone seeking a clear and informative introduction to the problems raised by abstract entities.
Sam Cowling is Assistant Professor, Denison University, USA.
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