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Single Idea 8625

[from 'System of Logic' by John Stuart Mill, in 4. Formal Logic / F. Set Theory ST / 7. Natural Sets ]

Full Idea

What in the world can be the observed fact, or the physical fact, which is asserted in the definition of the number 777864? ...What a pity that Mill did not also illustrate the physical facts underlying the numbers 0 and 1!

Gist of Idea

What physical facts could underlie 0 or 1, or very large numbers?

Source

comment on John Stuart Mill (System of Logic [1843]) by Gottlob Frege - Grundlagen der Arithmetik (Foundations) §7

Book Reference

Frege,Gottlob: 'The Foundations of Arithmetic (Austin)', ed/tr. Austin,J.L. [Blackwell 1980], p.9


A Reaction

I still think patterns could be an empirical foundation for arithmetic, though you still have to grasp the abstract concept of the pattern. An innate capacity to spot resemblance gets you a long way.