The question concerns the quantifiers that you see in math (&quot;there exists an even prime number&quot;, &quot;all numbers have a unique prime factorization&quot;), etc.<p>Field shows that for the theories necessary for Newtonian mathematics, we can treat those as quantifying over points in space-time, as opposed to anything distinctively mathematical. So we avoid Platonism.<p>It sounds like you, like most people who haven&#x27;t studied philosophy of math, assume some sort of pseudo-formalist account, and therefore don&#x27;t find the question very compelling. Please don&#x27;t take that disparagingly (most mathematicians are in the same boat, and I&#x27;m not sure I have much of an opinion at this point, save to note that people who haven&#x27;t studied philosophy tend to think the issue is obvious in a way that a lot of philosophers don&#x27;t).