Fictionalism

Fictionalism

Fictionalism is a methodological theory in philosophy that suggests that statements of a certain sort should not be taken to be literally true, but merely as a useful fiction. Two important strands of fictionalism are modal fictionalism (which states that possible worlds, regardless of whether they exist or not, may be a part of a useful discourse) and mathematical fictionalism, which states that talk of numbers and other mathematical objects is nothing more than a convenience for doing science. Also in meta-ethics, there is an equivalent position called moral fictionalism.

Fictionalism consists in at least the following three theses:

  1. Claims made within the domain of discourse are taken to be truth-apt; that is, true or false.
  2. The domain of discourse is to be interpreted at face value--not reduced to meaning something else.
  3. The aim of discourse in any given domain is not truth, but some other virtue(s) (e.g., simplicity, explanatory scope).

See also

Further reading

  • Balaguer, Mark (1998). Platonism and Anti-Platonism in Mathematics. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195143980. 
  • Kalderon, Mark (2005). Moral Fictionalism. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 9780199275977. 

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно сделать НИР?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • ficţionalism — FICŢIONALÍSM s.n. (fil.) Concepţie idealist subiectivă după care cunoaşterea se bazează pe ficţiune. [pr.: ţi o ] – Din fr. fictionalisme. Trimis de LauraGellner, 10.05.2004. Sursa: DEX 98  ficţionalísm s. n. (sil. ţi o ) Trimis de siveco, 10.08 …   Dicționar Român

  • fictionalism — noun The doctrine that certain concepts are simply convenient fictions See Also: fiction, fictional, fictitious …   Wiktionary

  • fictionalism — See Vaihinger …   Philosophy dictionary

  • fictionalism — fic·tion·al·ism …   English syllables

  • fictionalism — …   Useful english dictionary

  • Modal fictionalism — is a term used in philosophy, and more specifically in modal logic, to describe the position that holds that talk of possible worlds is actually false, though adopting such a discourse may be a useful fiction. A contrast to the position of modal… …   Wikipedia

  • mathematics, philosophy of — Branch of philosophy concerned with the epistemology and ontology of mathematics. Early in the 20th century, three main schools of thought called logicism, formalism, and intuitionism arose to account for and resolve the crisis in the foundations …   Universalium

  • Philosophy of color — In philosophy, there are several theories of color. Color realism holds that colors are physical properties that objects actually possess. Color fictionalism is an error theory that denies this. Color discourse If color fictionalism is true, and… …   Wikipedia

  • Philosophy of mathematics — The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the philosophical assumptions, foundations, and implications of mathematics. The aim of the philosophy of mathematics is to provide an account of the nature and methodology of …   Wikipedia

  • Logicism — is one of the schools of thought in the philosophy of mathematics, putting forth the theory that mathematics is an extension of logic and therefore some or all mathematics is reducible to logic.[1] Bertrand Russell and Alfred North Whitehead… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”