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Single Idea 13669

[from 'Foundations without Foundationalism' by Stewart Shapiro, in 5. Theory of Logic / A. Overview of Logic / 2. History of Logic ]

Full Idea

In 1910 Weyl observed that set theory seemed to presuppose natural numbers, and he regarded numbers as more fundamental than sets, as did Fraenkel. Dedekind had developed set theory independently, and used it to formulate numbers.

Gist of Idea

Can one develop set theory first, then derive numbers, or are numbers more basic?

Source

Stewart Shapiro (Foundations without Foundationalism [1991], 7.2.2)

Book Reference

Shapiro,Stewart: 'Foundations without Foundationalism' [OUP 1991], p.182