Abstract
Aristotle (384–322 B.C.) was a student of Plato for twenty years, but he disagreed with Plato about the nature of mathematics. For Aristotle, the word ‘two’ was not a noun referring to an abstract object existing independently of physical objects, but an adjective describing a physical object (e.g., that two-metre ladder). The ‘two’ of the length is ‘in’ the ladder (Metaphysics 1077a).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Anglin, W.S. (1994). Aristotle. In: Mathematics: A Concise History and Philosophy. Undergraduate Texts in Mathematics. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0875-4_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-0875-4_11
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-6930-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-0875-4
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive