Platonism, Naturalism, and Mathematical Knowledge

James Robert Brown is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Toronto. 　His interests include foundational issues in mathematics and physics, thought experiments, and the relations of science to society. Recent books include: Who Rules? An Opinionated Guide to the Epistemology and Politics of the Science Wars, Harvard, and new editions of The Laboratory of the Mind: Thought Experiments in the Natural Sciences,　Routledge, and Philosophy of Mathematics: An Introduction to the World of Proofs and Pictures, Routledge.

• Preface 1. Mathematical Explanation 2. What is Naturalism? 3. Perception, Practice, and Ideal Agents: Kitcher’s Naturalism 4. Just Metaphor?: Lakoff’s Language 5. Seeing with the Mind’s Eye: The Platonist Alternative 6. Semi-Naturalists and Reluctant Realists 7. A Life of its Own?: Maddy and Mathematical Autonomy 8. Afterword

"Brown argues that mathematics does not explain physical phenomena in the sense of accounting for them, but that it does explain them in the sense of making them comprehensible...this is a clear and engaging book, mainly for professional philosophers or graduate students in philosophy, that contains many on-target criticisms of naturalism." - A.C. Paseau, Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK in Philosophia Mathematica"Brown’s book is a useful addition to recent debates in the philosophy of mathematics." - Christopher Pincock, The Ohio State University, US in Mind