#set-theory

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fromNature
1 day ago

Forget formalism: mathematics was built on infighting and emotional turmoil

In the weeks leading up to September 1891, mathematician Georg Cantor prepared an ambush. For years he had sparred - philosophically, mathematically and emotionally - with his formidable rival Leopold Kronecker, one of Germany's most influential mathematicians. Kronecker thought that mathematics should deal only with whole numbers and proofs built from them and therefore rejected Cantor's study of infinity. "God made the integers," Kronecker once said. "All else is the work of man."
History
Philosophy
fromWIRED
2 months ago

The Mathematician Who Tried to Convince the Catholic Church of Two Infinities

Georg Cantor believed his set theory revealed divine infinity and sought support from the Catholic Church, but met resistance and experienced mental decline.
Philosophy
fromWarpweftandway
3 months ago

Episode 26 of "This Is the Way": The White Horse Dialogue-Language, Logic, and Categories in Early China

The predicate 'white' restricts the category 'horse' so that 'white horse' denotes a subset distinct from the general category 'horse'.
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