Combining Philosophers

Ideas for Anaxarchus, Theodore Sider and George Boolos

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2 ideas

6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 4. Axioms for Number / e. Peano arithmetic 2nd-order
Many concepts can only be expressed by second-order logic [Boolos]
     Full Idea: The notions of infinity and countability can be characterized by second-order sentences, though not by first-order sentences (as compactness and Skolem-Löwenheim theorems show), .. as well as well-ordering, progression, ancestral and identity.
     From: George Boolos (On Second-Order Logic [1975], p.48)
A single second-order sentence validates all of arithmetic - but this can't be proved axiomatically [Sider]
     Full Idea: A single second-order sentence has second-order semantic consequences which are all and only the truths of arithmetic, but this is cold comfort because of incompleteness; no axiomatic system draws out the consequences of this axiom.
     From: Theodore Sider (Logic for Philosophy [2010], 5.4.3)