The Epistemology of Modality and the Epistemology of Mathematics

Abstract

In this paper I explore some connections between the epistemology of modality and the epistemology of mathematics, and argue that they have far more in common than it may initially seem to be the case—even though modality need not (in fact, should not) be characterized in terms of possible worlds (as the modal realist insists) and mathematics need not (in fact, should not) be understood in terms of abstract entities (as the platonist recommends). Let’s see why.