Combining Texts

Ideas for 'fragments/reports', 'works' and 'What Required for Foundation for Maths?'

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3 ideas

2. Reason / B. Laws of Thought / 6. Ockham's Razor
Do not multiply entities beyond necessity [William of Ockham]
     Full Idea: Do not multiply entities beyond necessity.
     From: William of Ockham (works [1335])
     A reaction: This is the classic statement of Ockham's Razor, though it is not found in his printed works. It appears to be mainly aimed at Plato's Theory of Forms. It is taken to refer to types of entities, not numbers. One seraph is as bad as a hundred.
2. Reason / D. Definition / 2. Aims of Definition
Definitions make our intuitions mathematically useful [Mayberry]
     Full Idea: Definition provides us with the means for converting our intuitions into mathematically usable concepts.
     From: John Mayberry (What Required for Foundation for Maths? [1994], p.405-1)
2. Reason / E. Argument / 6. Conclusive Proof
Proof shows that it is true, but also why it must be true [Mayberry]
     Full Idea: When you have proved something you know not only that it is true, but why it must be true.
     From: John Mayberry (What Required for Foundation for Maths? [1994], p.405-2)
     A reaction: Note the word 'must'. Presumably both the grounding and the necessitation of the truth are revealed.