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6. Mathematics / B. Foundations for Mathematics / 4. Axioms for Number / a. Axioms for numbers
If principles are provable, they are theorems; if not, they are axioms [Frege]
     Full Idea: If the law [of induction] can be proved, it will be included amongst the theorems of mathematics; if it cannot, it will be included amongst the axioms.
     From: Gottlob Frege (Logic in Mathematics [1914], p.203)
     A reaction: This links Frege with the traditional Euclidean view of axioms. The question, then, is how do we know them, given that we can't prove them.