53 ideas
| 9641 | Definitions should be replaceable by primitives, and should not be creative [Brown,JR] |
| 9634 | Set theory says that natural numbers are an actual infinity (to accommodate their powerset) [Brown,JR] |
| 9613 | Naïve set theory assumed that there is a set for every condition [Brown,JR] |
| 9615 | Nowadays conditions are only defined on existing sets [Brown,JR] |
| 9617 | The 'iterative' view says sets start with the empty set and build up [Brown,JR] |
| 9642 | A flock of birds is not a set, because a set cannot go anywhere [Brown,JR] |
| 9605 | If a proposition is false, then its negation is true [Brown,JR] |
| 9649 | Axioms are either self-evident, or stipulations, or fallible attempts [Brown,JR] |
| 9638 | Berry's Paradox finds a contradiction in the naming of huge numbers [Brown,JR] |
| 9604 | Mathematics is the only place where we are sure we are right [Brown,JR] |
| 9622 | 'There are two apples' can be expressed logically, with no mention of numbers [Brown,JR] |
| 9648 | π is a 'transcendental' number, because it is not the solution of an equation [Brown,JR] |
| 9621 | Mathematics represents the world through structurally similar models. [Brown,JR] |
| 9646 | There is no limit to how many ways something can be proved in mathematics [Brown,JR] |
| 9647 | Computers played an essential role in proving the four-colour theorem of maps [Brown,JR] |
| 9643 | Set theory may represent all of mathematics, without actually being mathematics [Brown,JR] |
| 9644 | When graphs are defined set-theoretically, that won't cover unlabelled graphs [Brown,JR] |
| 9625 | To see a structure in something, we must already have the idea of the structure [Brown,JR] |
| 9628 | Sets seem basic to mathematics, but they don't suit structuralism [Brown,JR] |
| 9606 | The irrationality of root-2 was achieved by intellect, not experience [Brown,JR] |
| 9612 | There is an infinity of mathematical objects, so they can't be physical [Brown,JR] |
| 9610 | Numbers are not abstracted from particulars, because each number is a particular [Brown,JR] |
| 9620 | Empiricists base numbers on objects, Platonists base them on properties [Brown,JR] |
| 9639 | Does some mathematics depend entirely on notation? [Brown,JR] |
| 9629 | For nomalists there are no numbers, only numerals [Brown,JR] |
| 9630 | The most brilliant formalist was Hilbert [Brown,JR] |
| 9608 | There are no constructions for many highly desirable results in mathematics [Brown,JR] |
| 9645 | Constructivists say p has no value, if the value depends on Goldbach's Conjecture [Brown,JR] |
| 9619 | David's 'Napoleon' is about something concrete and something abstract [Brown,JR] |
| 14703 | Superficial necessity is true in all worlds; deep necessity is thus true, no matter which world is actual [Schroeter] |
| 14714 | Contradictory claims about a necessary god both seem apriori coherent [Schroeter] |
| 14704 | 2D semantics gives us apriori knowledge of our own meanings [Schroeter] |
| 3061 | Anaxarchus said that he was not even sure that he knew nothing [Anaxarchus, by Diog. Laertius] |
| 14706 | Your view of water depends on whether you start from the actual Earth or its counterfactual Twin [Schroeter] |
| 14711 | Rationalists say knowing an expression is identifying its extension using an internal cognitive state [Schroeter] |
| 9611 | 'Abstract' nowadays means outside space and time, not concrete, not physical [Brown,JR] |
| 9609 | The older sense of 'abstract' is where 'redness' or 'group' is abstracted from particulars [Brown,JR] |
| 14717 | Internalist meaning is about understanding; externalist meaning is about embedding in a situation [Schroeter] |
| 9640 | A term can have not only a sense and a reference, but also a 'computational role' [Brown,JR] |
| 14720 | Semantic theory assigns meanings to expressions, and metasemantics explains how this works [Schroeter] |
| 14695 | Semantic theories show how truth of sentences depends on rules for interpreting and joining their parts [Schroeter] |
| 14696 | Simple semantics assigns extensions to names and to predicates [Schroeter] |
| 14697 | 'Federer' and 'best tennis player' can't mean the same, despite having the same extension [Schroeter] |
| 14698 | Possible worlds semantics uses 'intensions' - functions which assign extensions at each world [Schroeter] |
| 14699 | Possible worlds make 'I' and that person's name synonymous, but they have different meanings [Schroeter] |
| 14709 | Possible worlds semantics implies a constitutive connection between meanings and modal claims [Schroeter] |
| 14719 | In the possible worlds account all necessary truths are same (because they all map to the True) [Schroeter] |
| 14701 | Array worlds along the horizontal, and contexts (world,person,time) along the vertical [Schroeter] |
| 14702 | If we introduce 'actually' into modal talk, we need possible worlds twice to express this [Schroeter] |
| 14705 | Do we know apriori how we refer to names and natural kinds, but their modal profiles only a posteriori? [Schroeter] |
| 14715 | 2D fans defend it for conceptual analysis, for meaning, and for internalist reference [Schroeter] |
| 14716 | 2D semantics can't respond to contingent apriori claims, since there is no single proposition involved [Schroeter] |
| 9635 | Given atomism at one end, and a finite universe at the other, there are no physical infinities [Brown,JR] |