Can the laws of mathematics and even logic change over time? Like, maybe at one time there were finitely many prime numbers and now there are infinitely many? Or maybe at one time the laws of classical logic were true, but now the laws of quantum logic are true? I don't seriously believe either of those previous two things, but I am wondering, has any serious academic philosopher argued that at least some laws of mathematics and/or logic have changed or will change over time?
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Logic/maths are our tools to describe nature. Natural laws don't seem to change. Ergo, the laws of Logic and Mathematics keep steady. A different thing is that we find new laws to describe nature (e.g. Newton's to Relativity), which does not mean that math or physical rules have changed, in the same sense that the planet has not changed from flat to round since 1400. We just discover new rules and express them with maths.– RodolfoAPCommented Oct 20, 2022 at 2:58
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Does this answer your question? What do we mean when we say there's only one type of logic/mathematics and that they can’t change?– user14511Commented Oct 20, 2022 at 6:52
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1No. People can change which mathematical or logical theories they prefer to use, but the number of primes in standard arithmetic always was and will always be infinite. Quine famously argued that even the laws of logic can be revised if we decide that the resulting theory is more suitable (he explicitly mentioned quantum logic as a candidate), but, as he also said, "changing the logic is changing the subject".– ConifoldCommented Oct 20, 2022 at 7:05
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@Mr.White No, that is a different question. I am asking mainly for reference requests regarding academic philosophers suggesting that the laws of math and/or logic are time-dependent.– user107952Commented Oct 20, 2022 at 13:17
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There are many questions and answers dealing exactly with this. Maybe you make the effort of reading them.– user14511Commented Oct 20, 2022 at 13:44
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