Real Numbers, Generalizations of the Reals, and Theories of Continua
Title | Real Numbers, Generalizations of the Reals, and Theories of Continua PDF eBook |
Author | P. Ehrlich |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 313 |
Release | 2013-06-29 |
Genre | Mathematics |
ISBN | 9401582483 |
Since their appearance in the late 19th century, the Cantor--Dedekind theory of real numbers and philosophy of the continuum have emerged as pillars of standard mathematical philosophy. On the other hand, this period also witnessed the emergence of a variety of alternative theories of real numbers and corresponding theories of continua, as well as non-Archimedean geometry, non-standard analysis, and a number of important generalizations of the system of real numbers, some of which have been described as arithmetic continua of one type or another. With the exception of E.W. Hobson's essay, which is concerned with the ideas of Cantor and Dedekind and their reception at the turn of the century, the papers in the present collection are either concerned with or are contributions to, the latter groups of studies. All the contributors are outstanding authorities in their respective fields, and the essays, which are directed to historians and philosophers of mathematics as well as to mathematicians who are concerned with the foundations of their subject, are preceded by a lengthy historical introduction.
Truth in Mathematics
Title | Truth in Mathematics PDF eBook |
Author | Harold G. Dales |
Publisher | Oxford University Press |
Pages | 396 |
Release | 1998 |
Genre | Mathematics |
ISBN | 9780198514763 |
The nature of truth in mathematics has exercised the minds of thinkers from at least the time of the ancient Greeks. The great advances in mathematics and philosophy in the twentieth century and in particular the work by G]odel and the development of the notion of independence in mathematics have led to new and complex views on this question. Collecting the work of a number of outstanding mathematicians and philosophers, including Yurii Manin, Vaughan Jones, and Per Martin-L]of, this volume provides an overview of the forefront of current thinking and a valuable introduction for researchers in the area.
From Dedekind to Gödel
Title | From Dedekind to Gödel PDF eBook |
Author | Jaakko Hintikka |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 585 |
Release | 2013-03-09 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9401584788 |
Discussions of the foundations of mathematics and their history are frequently restricted to logical issues in a narrow sense, or else to traditional problems of analytic philosophy. From Dedekind to Gödel: Essays on the Development of the Foundations of Mathematics illustrates the much greater variety of the actual developments in the foundations during the period covered. The viewpoints that serve this purpose included the foundational ideas of working mathematicians, such as Kronecker, Dedekind, Borel and the early Hilbert, and the development of notions like model and modelling, arbitrary function, completeness, and non-Archimedean structures. The philosophers discussed include not only the household names in logic, but also Husserl, Wittgenstein and Ramsey. Needless to say, such logically-oriented thinkers as Frege, Russell and Gödel are not entirely neglected, either. Audience: Everybody interested in the philosophy and/or history of mathematics will find this book interesting, giving frequently novel insights.
Apartness and Uniformity
Title | Apartness and Uniformity PDF eBook |
Author | Douglas S. Bridges |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 212 |
Release | 2011-09-08 |
Genre | Computers |
ISBN | 3642224156 |
The theory presented in this book is developed constructively, is based on a few axioms encapsulating the notion of objects (points and sets) being apart, and encompasses both point-set topology and the theory of uniform spaces. While the classical-logic-based theory of proximity spaces provides some guidance for the theory of apartness, the notion of nearness/proximity does not embody enough algorithmic information for a deep constructive development. The use of constructive (intuitionistic) logic in this book requires much more technical ingenuity than one finds in classical proximity theory -- algorithmic information does not come cheaply -- but it often reveals distinctions that are rendered invisible by classical logic. In the first chapter the authors outline informal constructive logic and set theory, and, briefly, the basic notions and notations for metric and topological spaces. In the second they introduce axioms for a point-set apartness and then explore some of the consequences of those axioms. In particular, they examine a natural topology associated with an apartness space, and relations between various types of continuity of mappings. In the third chapter the authors extend the notion of point-set (pre-)apartness axiomatically to one of (pre-)apartness between subsets of an inhabited set. They then provide axioms for a quasiuniform space, perhaps the most important type of set-set apartness space. Quasiuniform spaces play a major role in the remainder of the chapter, which covers such topics as the connection between uniform and strong continuity (arguably the most technically difficult part of the book), apartness and convergence in function spaces, types of completeness, and neat compactness. Each chapter has a Notes section, in which are found comments on the definitions, results, and proofs, as well as occasional pointers to future work. The book ends with a Postlude that refers to other constructive approaches to topology, with emphasis on the relation between apartness spaces and formal topology. Largely an exposition of the authors' own research, this is the first book dealing with the apartness approach to constructive topology, and is a valuable addition to the literature on constructive mathematics and on topology in computer science. It is aimed at graduate students and advanced researchers in theoretical computer science, mathematics, and logic who are interested in constructive/algorithmic aspects of topology.
Living Doubt
Title | Living Doubt PDF eBook |
Author | G. Debrock |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 317 |
Release | 2013-06-29 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9401582521 |
Charles Sanders Peirce (1839--1914) has often been referred to as one of the most important North American philosophers, but the real extent of his philosophical importance is only now beginning to emerge. Peirce's `pragmaticism' (his own term) may provide the key to an epistemological theory which avoids both the Scylla of foundationalism and the Charybdis of relativism. Peirce's `Logic', linked to a conception of knowledge and of science, is increasingly coming to be recognised as the only possible one. In Living Doubt, 26 papers are presented by some of the world's leading philosophers, demonstrating the rich and cosmopolitan variety of approach to Peirce's epistemology. The contributions are grouped under three general headings: Knowledge, truth and the pragmatic principle; Peirce and the epistemological tradition; and Knowledge, language and semeiotic.
Logic and Philosophy of Science in Uppsala
Title | Logic and Philosophy of Science in Uppsala PDF eBook |
Author | D. Prawitz |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 611 |
Release | 2013-06-29 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9401583110 |
The International Congresses of Logic, Methodology and Philosophy of Science, which are held every fourth year, give a cross-section of ongoing research in logic and philosophy of science. Both the invited lectures and the many contributed papers are conductive to this end. At the 9th Congress held in Uppsala in 1991 there were 54 invited lectures and around 650 contributed papers divided into 15 different sections. Some of the speakers who presented contributed papers that attracted special interest were invited to submit their papers for publication, and the result is the present volume. A few papers appear here more or less as they were presented at the Congress whereas others are expansions or elaborations of the talks given at the Congress. A selection of this kind, containing 38 papers drawn from the 650 contributed papers presented at the Uppsala Congress, cannot do justice to all facets of the field as it appeared at the Congress. But it should allow the reader to get a representative survey of contemporary research in large areas of philosophical logic and philosophy of science. About half of the papers of the volume appear in sections listed at the Congress under the heading Philosophical and Foundational Problems about the Sciences. The section Foundations of Logic, Mathematics and Computer Science is represented by three papers, Foundations of Physical Sciences by six papers, Foundations of Biological Sciences by three papers, Foundations of Cognitive Science and AI by one paper, and Foundations of Linguistics by three papers.
The Philosophy of Michael Dummett
Title | The Philosophy of Michael Dummett PDF eBook |
Author | B.F. McGuinness |
Publisher | Springer Science & Business Media |
Pages | 395 |
Release | 2013-04-17 |
Genre | Philosophy |
ISBN | 9401583366 |
The present collection of papers derives from a philosophy conference organised in the Sicilian town of M ussomeli in September 1991. The con ference aimed at providing an analysis of certain aspects of the thought of Michael Dummett, whose contributions have been very influential in several aspects of the philosophical debate continuing within the analyt ical tradition. Logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the interpretation of Frege's philosophy, and metaphysics are only some of the areas within which Dummett's ideas have been fruitful over the years. The papers contained in this book, and Dummett's replies, will, it is hoped, not merely offer a partial reconstruction of a philosopher's life work, but provide an exciting and challenging vantage point from which to look at some of the main problems of contemporary philosophy. The First International Philosophy Conference of M ussomeli - this is what the conference was called - was an extraordinary event in many ways. The quality of the papers presented, the international reputa tion of many of the participants, the venue itself, together with the unavoidable, and sometimes quite funny, organisational hiccups, made that meeting memorable. Perhaps principally memorable was the warmth and sympathy of the people of Mussomeli who strongly supported and encouraged this initia tive. A special mention is also due to the City Council Administrators, who spared no effort to make the Conference a success.