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Full Idea
A child understands 'there are just as many nuts as apples' as easily by pairing them off as by counting them.
Gist of Idea
We understand 'there are as many nuts as apples' as easily by pairing them as by counting them
Source
Michael Dummett (Frege philosophy of mathematics [1991], Ch.12)
Book Ref
Dummett,Michael: 'Frege: philosophy of mathematics' [Duckworth 1991], p.150
A Reaction
I find it very intriguing that you could know that two sets have the same number, without knowing any numbers. Is it like knowing two foreigners spoke the same words, without understanding them? Or is 'equinumerous' conceptually prior to 'number'?
| 15916 | Frege's one-to-one correspondence replaces well-ordering, because infinities can't be counted [Frege, by Lavine] |
| 17446 | Counting rests on one-one correspondence, of numerals to objects [Frege] |
| 9582 | Husserl rests sameness of number on one-one correlation, forgetting the correlation with numbers themselves [Frege] |
| 17444 | Husserl said counting is more basic than Frege's one-one correspondence [Husserl, by Heck] |
| 14118 | We can define one-to-one without mentioning unity [Russell] |
| 9852 | We understand 'there are as many nuts as apples' as easily by pairing them as by counting them [Dummett] |
| 17450 | Understanding 'just as many' needn't involve grasping one-one correspondence [Heck] |
| 17451 | We can know 'just as many' without the concepts of equinumerosity or numbers [Heck] |