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16864 | 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. |