52 ideas
9641 | Definitions should be replaceable by primitives, and should not be creative [Brown,JR] |
12452 | Our dislike of contradiction in logic is a matter of psychology, not mathematics [Brouwer] |
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] |
15941 | For intuitionists excluded middle is an outdated historical convention [Brouwer] |
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] |
18119 | Mathematics is a mental activity which does not use language [Brouwer, by Bostock] |
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] |
18247 | Brouwer saw reals as potential, not actual, and produced by a rule, or a choice [Brouwer, by Shapiro] |
9648 | π is a 'transcendental' number, because it is not the solution of an equation [Brown,JR] |
12451 | Scientific laws largely rest on the results of counting and measuring [Brouwer] |
18118 | Brouwer regards the application of mathematics to the world as somehow 'wicked' [Brouwer, by Bostock] |
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] |
9629 | For nomalists there are no numbers, only numerals [Brown,JR] |
9639 | Does some mathematics depend entirely on notation? [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] |
12454 | Intuitionists only accept denumerable sets [Brouwer] |
12453 | Neo-intuitionism abstracts from the reuniting of moments, to intuit bare two-oneness [Brouwer] |
8728 | Intuitionist mathematics deduces by introspective construction, and rejects unknown truths [Brouwer] |
9619 | David's 'Napoleon' is about something concrete and something abstract [Brown,JR] |
22190 | If a theory is more informative it is less probable [Gorham] |
22189 | Why abandon a theory if you don't have a better one? [Gorham] |
22192 | Is Newton simpler with universal simultaneity, or Einstein simpler without absolute time? [Gorham] |
22194 | Structural Realism says mathematical structures persist after theory rejection [Gorham] |
22195 | Structural Realists must show the mathematics is both crucial and separate [Gorham] |
22196 | For most scientists their concepts are not just useful, but are meant to be true and accurate [Gorham] |
22197 | Theories aren't just for organising present experience if they concern the past or future [Gorham] |
22193 | Consilience makes the component sciences more likely [Gorham] |
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] |
10117 | Intuitonists in mathematics worried about unjustified assertion, as well as contradiction [Brouwer, by George/Velleman] |
9640 | A term can have not only a sense and a reference, but also a 'computational role' [Brown,JR] |
22198 | Aristotelian physics has circular celestial motion and linear earthly motion [Gorham] |
9635 | Given atomism at one end, and a finite universe at the other, there are no physical infinities [Brown,JR] |