display all the ideas for this combination of philosophers
3 ideas
22976 | Memories are preserved separately, according to category [Augustine] |
Full Idea: In memory everything is preserved separately, according to its category. | |
From: Augustine (Confessions [c.398], X.08) | |
A reaction: This strikes me as the first seeds of the idea that the mind functions by means of mental files. Our memories of cats are 'close to' or 'linked to' our memories of dogs. |
10110 | Corresponding to every concept there is a class (some of them sets) [George/Velleman] |
Full Idea: Corresponding to every concept there is a class (some classes will be sets, the others proper classes). | |
From: A.George / D.J.Velleman (Philosophies of Mathematics [2002], Ch.4) |
9569 | The origin of geometry started in sensation, then moved to calculation, and then to reason [Proclus] |
Full Idea: It is unsurprising that geometry was discovered in the necessity of Nile land measurement, since everything in the world of generation goes from imperfection to perfection. They would naturally pass from sense-perception to calculation, and so to reason. | |
From: Proclus (Commentary on Euclid's 'Elements' [c.452]), quoted by Charles Chihara - A Structural Account of Mathematics 9.12 n55 | |
A reaction: The last sentence is the core of my view on abstraction, that it proceeds by moving through levels of abstraction, approaching more and more general truths. |