creators_name: Franceschi, Paul type: preprint datestamp: 2004-05-15 lastmod: 2011-03-11 08:55:36 metadata_visibility: show title: A Polar Concept Argument for the Existence of Abstracta subjects: phil-metaphys full_text_status: public keywords: abstracta, polar concept argument, polar contraries abstract: I present a polar concept argument for the existence of abstract objects. After recalling the fundamentals of the debate about the existence of abstracta, I present in a detailed way the argument for the existence of abstracta. I offer two different variations of the argument: one, deductive and the other, inductive. The argument rests primarily on the fact that our universe is well-balanced. This well-balanced property results from the fact that all instantiable polar dualities are instantiated. Hence, the abstract pole of the abstract/concrete duality must also be exemplified. Lastly, I review several objections that can be raised against the present argument. date: 2004-05 date_type: published refereed: FALSE referencetext: Colyvan, M. (2001) "Indispensability Arguments in the Philosophy of Mathematics", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2001 Edition), E. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2001/entries/mathphil-indis. Field, H. (1980) Science Without Numbers: A Defence of Nominalism, Oxford: Blackwell. Grayling, A. C. (1995) "Scepticism", Philosophy A guide through the subject, Grayling, G. (ed.), Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lowe, E. J. (1995) "The Metaphysics of Abstract Objects", Journal of Philosophy 92, 509-24. Maddy, P. (1992) "Indispensability and Practice", Journal of Philosophy, 89-6, 275-289. Rosen, G. (2001) "Abstract Objects", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2001 Edition), E. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2001/entries/abstract-objects. Ross, H. (1995) The Creator and the Cosmos, Colorado: Navpress Colorado Springs. Ryle, G. (1960) Dilemmas, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Soames, S. (1999) Understanding Truth, New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Sober, E. (1993) "Mathematics and Indispensability", Philosophical Review, 102-1, 35-57. Tegmark, M. (2003) "Parallel Universes", to appear in Science and Ultimate Reality: From Quantum to Cosmos, J.D. Barrow, P.C.W. Davies, & C.L. Harper eds., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2003), at arXiv:astro-ph/0302131 v1 7 Feb 2003. citation: Franceschi, Paul (2004) A Polar Concept Argument for the Existence of Abstracta. [Preprint] document_url: http://cogprints.org/3636/1/pca-en.PDF