Predicativity and structuralism in Dedekind's construction of the reals (Q735349)

The paper is devoted to the philosophical background of Dedekind's construction of reals. The main problem considered is whether Dedekind made some Platonistic presumptions and whether his construction is predicative or impredicative. The author analyses methodological views of Dedekind and asks about places in his construction in which predicativity restrictions ought to be applied. This leads to finer-grained distinctions about the extent to which impredicative definitions are problematic.