What Can Our Best Scientific Theories Tell Us About The Modal Status of Mathematical Objects?

Indispensability arguments are used as a way of working out what there is: our best science tells us things are. Some philosophers think that indispensability can be to show we should committed the existence mathematical objects (numbers, functions, sets). Do also deliver conclusions about modal properties these entities? Colyvan (in Leng, Paseau, Potter (eds) Mathematical knowledge, OUP, Oxford, 109-122, 2007) and Hartry Field (Realism, mathematics modality, Blackwell, 1989) each suggest consequence empirical methodology is resulting only said exist (or not exist) contingently. Kristie Miller has argued this line thought doesn’t work (Miller in Erkenntnis, 77 (3), 335-359, 2012). argues direct tension with contingentism objects, they cannot tell status objects. I argue Miller’s argument crucially imprecise, making it clearer no longer shows strategy collapses or unstable if delivers contingentist is.