Berkeley Reading Guide

 

72. How is arithmetic infected by the doctrine of abstract ideas?

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>From eddie:

It is infected because we never really experience arithmetic. We experience things that give an idea of what arithmetic is. An example would be when we see two books or two pencils. We know there has to be a number 2 but we didn't necessarily experience the number 2, but things that represent the abstract idea of a number 2.

>rm says: Right, we have to go through the same process of abstraction.

 

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