From Deflationism About Truth to Deflationism About Abstract Objects

I present a deflationary account of abstract objects, focusing on numbers and properties. This account can be seen as a natural extension of the deflationary account of truth. Very roughly, the key idea is that (1) our talk about numbers and properties serves a quasi-logical function analogous to our talk about truth, and (2) key questions about the metaphysics and epistemology of numbers and properties can be answered with reference to that function. In contrast to many other deflationary approaches in metaphysics, the present account does not assume that the principles governing our talk about numbers and properties is analytically true.