Abstractionism 2: UConn, 12th August 2023
A neglected response to the Caesar problem maintains that the content of ‘mixed’ identity contexts such as ‘#X = Julius Caesar’ is just as open to stipulation as the content of ‘unmixed’ contexts such as ‘#X = #Y’. I defend this stimulative response against some objections, including those raised by Fraser MacBride and by Bob Hale and Crispin Wright.
Philosophia Mathematica 31(2) 2023: https://doi.org/10.1093/philmat/nkad006
The Caesar problem arises for abstractionist views, which seek to secure reference for terms such as ‘the number of Xs’ or #X by stipulating the content of ‘unmixed’ identity contexts like ‘#X = #Y’. Frege objects that this stipulation says nothing about ‘mixed’ contexts such as ‘#X = Julius Caesar’. This article defends a neglected response to the Caesar problem: the content of mixed contexts is just as open to stipulation as that of unmixed contexts.
James Studd 