Single Idea 8786

[catalogued under 18. Thought / E. Abstraction / 7. Abstracta by Equivalence]

Full Idea

An example of a first-order abstraction principle is Frege's definition of 'direction' in terms of parallel lines; a higher-order example (which refers to first-order predicates) defines 'equinumeral' in terms of one-to-one correlation (Hume's Principle).

Gist of Idea

One first-order abstraction principle is Frege's definition of 'direction' in terms of parallel lines

Source

B Hale / C Wright (Logicism in the 21st Century [2007], 1)

Book Reference

'Oxf Handbk of Philosophy of Maths and Logic', ed/tr. Shapiro,Stewart [OUP 2007], p.167


A Reaction

[compressed] This is the way modern logicians now treat abstraction, but abstraction principles include the elusive concept of 'equivalence' of entities, which may be no more than that the same adjective ('parallel') can be applied to them.