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Single Idea 10833

[filed under theme 6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 4. Axioms for Number / e. Peano arithmetic 2nd-order ]

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.

Gist of Idea

Many concepts can only be expressed by second-order logic

Source

George Boolos (On Second-Order Logic [1975], p.48)

Book Ref

Boolos,George: 'Logic, Logic and Logic' [Harvard 1999], p.521


The 7 ideas from 'On Second-Order Logic'

Boolos reinterprets second-order logic as plural logic [Boolos, by Oliver/Smiley]
Why should compactness be definitive of logic? [Boolos, by Hacking]
A sentence can't be a truth of logic if it asserts the existence of certain sets [Boolos]
Second-order logic metatheory is set-theoretic, and second-order validity has set-theoretic problems [Boolos]
'∀x x=x' only means 'everything is identical to itself' if the range of 'everything' is fixed [Boolos]
Many concepts can only be expressed by second-order logic [Boolos]
Weak completeness: if it is valid, it is provable. Strong: it is provable from a set of sentences [Boolos]