Do numbers exist? A dialogue

Do numbers exist? A dialogue César S. dos Santos [email protected] Federal University of Santa Maria, Philosophy July 22, 2015 – draft “If there is no numbers, then zero numbers do exist.” “But, you know, zero is a number.” “You’re right. If zero numbers exist, and zero is a number, then there is at least one number, and that’s the number zero.” “But now, if there are at least one number, then there is the number one.” “You’re right, again! There are at least two numbers, the number zero and the number one.” “Well, if there is at least two numbers, then the number two exists.” “Let’s take stock. There is the number zero, the number one, and the number two.” “So there are three numbers. Therefore, the number three exists.” “And now we have four numbers!” “Oh boy, I’m starving. May we eat before we continue?”

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