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14248
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We could accept the integers as primitive, then use sets to construct the rest [Cohen]
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Full Idea:
A very reasonable position would be to accept the integers as primitive entities and then use sets to form higher entities.
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From:
Paul J. Cohen (Set Theory and the Continuum Hypothesis [1966], 5.4), quoted by Oliver,A/Smiley,T - What are Sets and What are they For?
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A reaction:
I find this very appealing, and the authority of this major mathematician adds support. I would say, though, that the integers are not 'primitive', but pick out (in abstraction) consistent features of the natural world.
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23060
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The good is not relative, but is rooted in facts about human needs [Santayana]
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Full Idea:
The good is by no means relative to opinion, but is rooted in the unconscious and fatal nature of living beings, a nature which predetermines for them the difference between foods and poisons, happiness and misery.
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From:
George Santayana (Platonism and the Spiritual Life [1927], p.3), quoted by John Gray - Seven Types of Atheism 6
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A reaction:
That is, he concedes that the good is relative to human beings, but that the relevant facts about human beings are not relative. I think he has the correct picture. The key point is that the good is 'rooted' in something, and doesn't just float free.
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