Question
Hartry Field’s book “Science Without [these things]” builds up Newton’s physics without them, showing they may not be “indispensable” for science. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name these things. Paul Benacerraf’s identification problem poses philosophical issues with treating these things as abstract sets, as in von Neumann’s construction.
ANSWER: numbers [accept the natural numbers or whole numbers; accept the naturals or integers or rationals or reals; prompt on mathematical objects]
[10e] Field’s project critiques a position in the philosophy of math that analogizes objects like numbers to this ancient Greek thinker’s theory of forms, which he developed in dialogues like the Crito.
ANSWER: Plato [or mathematical Platonism]
[10m] The “indispensability” argument for numbers was developed by Hilary Putnam and this Harvard philosopher of “Two Dogmas of Empiricism.”
ANSWER: W. V. O. Quine [or Willard Van Orman Quine; accept Quine–Putnam indispensability thesis]
<Vincent Du, RMP - Philosophy> ~23554~ <Editor: Vincent Du>
Data
Summary
| Tournament | Edition | Exact Match? | Heard | PPB | Easy % | Medium % | Hard % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 PACE NSC | 06/08/2024 | Y | 36 | 11.94 | 69% | 33% | 17% |