[lit-ideas] Re: Correction
- From: Robert Paul <robert.paul@xxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Mon, 16 Jan 2006 14:15:08 -0800
Bill Ball wrote [edited}:
Try to see if they can tell the difference between the numeral 2 and the
number two.
Most students I ‘ve found have a difficult time going from phenomena to
[noumena].
I'll bet that most non-students have the same difficulty. You might
recast the problem by asking what 2 and other numerals refer to. Most of
us would be uncomfortable with the view that numbers—two and the rest
from zero/zed on—are, as are numerals, just marks on paper; but what
more they are isn't easy to say.
If behind each numeral there is a particular sort of Kantian noumenon,
(a number?) then the view that noumena are essentially unknowable
interferes with the belief that numbers have definite and specifiable
properties.
Robert Paul
The Reed Institute
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