Why Numbers Are Embodied Concepts

[摘要] Number concepts are often thought to be abstractions, for example because the numerosity of sets (e.g., their “three-ness”) is a feature apparently dissociated from the sensory experiences with specific set members, such as their size, shape, or color. In other words, quantity-specific experiences seem to vary arbitrarily when we enumerate three apples, three cars, three people, or three fingers. Hence, Frege (1884) and other logically-minded philosophers considered positive integers as ideal cognitive constructions for enumerative mental operations, removed from contextual constraints, yet preserving precision and generalizing across situations (e.g., arithmetic operations).

[学科分类] 心理学（综合）

[关键词] arithmetic;numerical cognition;number concepts;embodied cognition;philosophy of science