Mathematics as natural science

Abstract

Mathematics is a natural science whose great generality makes many philosophers think of it as a supernatural science, consisting of truths derived independently of experience about objects not given in experience. Some mathematicians, like Simpson [16], try to defend mathematics from the resulting objection that it is merely a mental game by first conceding that most of it is meaningless and then trying to save what is left by some technical tour de force. Some physicists, like Wigner [20], admit that mathematics is applicable to the world, but declare themselves unable to understand what makes its applications possible. Both Simpson's worries and Wigner's puzzlement can be relieved if we assimilate mathematics more closely to the other natural sciences.