Math can’t Move Matter

Metaphysica 1 (1):1-14 (2024)
  Copy   BIBTEX

Abstract

Causal platonism asserts that mathematical objects cause neural states in human brains. I raise the following four objections to it. (i) Quantum entanglement does not show that one object can causally affect another, although one is nontemporal, nonspatial, and unchanging. (ii) Causal platonism can neither be justified a posteriori nor a priori. (iii) To postulate mathematical media to flesh out mathematical causation is to multiply mysteries beyond necessity. (iv) To say that mathematical causation is unintelligible and inexplicable is not to complain about causation in general.

Similar books and articles

Can math move matter?Benjamin Callard - 2023 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 66 (3):355-380.
Platonism and Anti-Platonism in Mathematics.Mark Balaguer - 1998 - Bulletin of Symbolic Logic 8 (4):516-518.
Platonism and anti-Platonism in mathematics.Mark Balaguer - 1998 - New York: Oxford University Press.
The Conceivability of Platonism.Benjamin Callard - 2007 - Philosophia Mathematica 15 (3):347-356.
Platonism in the Philosophy of Mathematics.Øystein Linnebo - 2014 - In Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Stanford, CA: The Metaphysics Research Lab.
Mathematical platonism meets ontological pluralism?Matteo Plebani - 2020 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 63 (6):655-673.
Mathematical Platonism.Nicolas Pain - 2011-09-16 - In Michael Bruce & Steven Barbone (eds.), Just the Arguments. Wiley‐Blackwell. pp. 373–375.

Analytics

Added to PP
2024-01-24

Downloads
79 (#212,206)

6 months
79 (#61,934)

Historical graph of downloads
How can I increase my downloads?

Author's Profile

Seungbae Park
Ulsan National Institute Of Science And Technology

Citations of this work

No citations found.

Add more citations

References found in this work

Mathematical truth.Paul Benacerraf - 1973 - Journal of Philosophy 70 (19):661-679.
Can Mathematical Objects Be Causally Efficacious?Seungbae Park - 2019 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 62 (3):247–255.
In Defense of Mathematical Inferentialism.Seungbae Park - 2017 - Analysis and Metaphysics 16:70-83.
Can math move matter?Benjamin Callard - 2023 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 66 (3):355-380.

View all 7 references / Add more references