Nominalism and constructivism in seventeenth-century mathematical philosophy
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Nominalism and constructivism in seventeenth-century mathematical philosophy
zbMATH Open document ID: 1078.01008
author: David Sepkoski
published in: Historia Mathematica
publication date: 2005-05-12T00:00:00Z
review text: The author discusses the role played by nominalism and constructivism in 17th century mathematical philosophy. The main part of the paper is devoted to the work of Pierre Gassendi (1592--1655). It is argued that Gassendi -- almost known for the revival of classical atomism of Democritus -- had also a major contribution to nominalist epistemology and ontology and that his program of epistemological reform was often centered on mathematical objects and categories. There are also discussed the contributions to nominalism and constructivism in mathematical philosophy of Thomas Hobbes, Isaac Barrow and Isaac Newton.
reviewed by: Doru Ştefănescu
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 01A45
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 00A30
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 03-03
zbMATH DE Number: 2167811
zbMATH Keywords: nominalism
zbMATH Keywords: constructivism
zbMATH Keywords: mathematical philosophy
MaRDI profile type: Publication
full work available at URL: j.hm.2003.09.002
OpenAlex ID: W4298287499
Wikidata QID: Q54152684
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DOI: 10.1016/J.HM.2003.09.002
description: scientific article; zbMATH DE number 2167811