Philosophy of Mathematics: Selected Writings
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And Peirce's Synechism
Elective Metaphysical Affi nities: Emerson’s “Natural History of Intellect” and Peirce’s Synechism Afi nidades Eletivas Metafísicas: A “História Natural do Intelecto” de Emerson e o Sinequismo de Peirce David A. Dilworth Philosophy Department State University of New York at Stony Brook – USA [email protected] Abstract: The paper suggests that Peirce’s late-phase metaphysical system af- termathed Emerson’s basic philosophical ideas elaborated over four decades before him. Peirce, with characteristic brilliance, transformed Emerson’s own luminous ideas into his categorial elaborations of abduction, cosmogonic synechism, universal semiosis, and the like. To illustrate this process of transformation, the paper provides a running synopsis of Emerson’s last signifi cant writing, “The Natural History of Intellect” (1870), which was ori- ginally part of a team-taught lecture series at Harvard that Emerson shared with six others, one of whom was the young C. S. Peirce. The synopsis evidences that virtually all of Peirce’s major metaphysical tenets had their precedent in Emerson. Among other places, Peirce acknowledged Emerson’s infl uence (together with that of Schelling) in his 1892 essay, “The Law of Mind.” Even before that, he referenced Emerson’s poem “The Sphinx” in his “A Guess at the Riddle” of 1887-88, the turning-point in Peirce’s career towarde metaphysical speculation. Peirce’s conscious awareness of Emerson’s philososphy and poetry traces back to many sources (including Emerson’s long friendship with his father, Benjamin Peirce). The elective affi nity be- tween his and Emerson’s views allows us to appreciate that the two authors forged a central strain of idealistic-cum-realistic metaphysical thinking that framed the later Pragmatisms of James and Dewey, among others. -
European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy
European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy VI-2 | 2014 Language or Experience Peirce Studies in China in the 21th Century Yi Jiang and Binmin Zhong Electronic version URL: http://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/1062 DOI: 10.4000/ejpap.1062 ISSN: 2036-4091 Publisher Associazione Pragma Electronic reference Yi Jiang and Binmin Zhong, « Peirce Studies in China in the 21th Century », European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy [Online], VI-2 | 2014, Online since 24 December 2014, connection on 01 May 2019. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/ejpap/1062 ; DOI : 10.4000/ejpap.1062 This text was automatically generated on 1 May 2019. Author retains copyright and grants the European Journal of Pragmatism and American Philosophy right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Peirce Studies in China in the 21th Century 1 Peirce Studies in China in the 21th Century Yi Jiang and Binmin Zhong AUTHOR'S NOTE This essay completes the symposium on “The Reception of Peirce in the World” appeared in the last issue of EJPAP, 6, 1. 1 Peirce is more and more recognized in Chinese academic circles as an encyclopedic philosopher. The study of Peirce in China over the past 60 years can be roughly divided into four periods: the obscure period (1950-80), the starting period (1981-91), the expanding period (1992-2002), and the deepening period (2003-13). During the obscure period (1950-80), the understanding of Peirce was very shallow, mainly because of a narrow political view that led to unjust criticisms of his philosophy. -
Nominalism, Trivialism, Logicism
Nominalism, Trivialism, Logicism Agustín Rayo∗ May 1, 2014 This paper is an effort to extract some of the main theses in the philosophy of mathematics from my book, The Construction of Logical Space. I show that there are important limits to the availability of nominalistic paraphrase-functions for mathematical languages, and sug- gest a way around the problem by developing a method for specifying nominalistic contents without corresponding nominalistic paraphrases. Although much of the material in this paper is drawn from the book—and from an earlier paper (Rayo 2008)—I hope the present discussion will earn its keep by motivating the ideas in a new way, and by suggesting further applications. 1 Nominalism Mathematical Nominalism is the view that there are no mathematical objets. A standard problem for nominalists is that it is not obvious that they can explain what the point of a mathematical assertion would be. For it is natural to think that mathematical sentences like ‘the number of the dinosaurs is zero’ or ‘1 + 1 = 2’ can only be true if mathematical objects exist. But if this is right, the nominalist is committed to the view that such sentences are untrue. And if the sentences are untrue, it not immediately obvious why they would be worth asserting. ∗For their many helpful comments, I am indebted to Vann McGee, Kevin Richardson, Bernhard Salow and two anonymous referees for Philosophia Mathematica. I would also like to thank audiences at Smith College, the Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele, and MIT’s Logic, Langauge, Metaphysics and Mind Reading Group. Most of all, I would like to thank Steve Yablo. -
Biography Paper – Georg Cantor
Mike Garkie Math 4010 – History of Math UCD Denver 4/1/08 Biography Paper – Georg Cantor Few mathematicians are house-hold names; perhaps only Newton and Euclid would qualify. But there is a second tier of mathematicians, those whose names might not be familiar, but whose discoveries are part of everyday math. Examples here are Napier with logarithms, Cauchy with limits and Georg Cantor (1845 – 1918) with sets. In fact, those who superficially familier with Georg Cantor probably have two impressions of the man: First, as a consequence of thinking about sets, Cantor developed a theory of the actual infinite. And second, that Cantor was a troubled genius, crippled by Freudian conflict and mental illness. The first impression is fundamentally true. Cantor almost single-handedly overturned the Aristotle’s concept of the potential infinite by developing the concept of transfinite numbers. And, even though Bolzano and Frege made significant contributions, “Set theory … is the creation of one person, Georg Cantor.” [4] The second impression is mostly false. Cantor certainly did suffer from mental illness later in his life, but the other emotional baggage assigned to him is mostly due his early biographers, particularly the infamous E.T. Bell in Men Of Mathematics [7]. In the racially charged atmosphere of 1930’s Europe, the sensational story mathematician who turned the idea of infinity on its head and went crazy in the process, probably make for good reading. The drama of the controversy over Cantor’s ideas only added spice. 1 Fortunately, modern scholars have corrected the errors and biases in older biographies. -
ETHICS and the SCEPTICAL CHALLENGE: a PRAGMATICIST APPROACH Ética E O Desafio Cético: Uma Abordagem Pragmaticista
ETHICS AND THE SCEPTICAL CHALLENGE: A PRAGMATICIST APPROACH Ética e o Desafio Cético: Uma Abordagem Pragmaticista Claudine Tiercelin Senior member of the Institut Universitaire de France Professor of Philosophy at the University of Paris XII – France Visiting Professor at Fordham University (New York) – USA [email protected] Abstract: The aim of the paper is to present the specific reasons why a Peircian or pragmaticist approach is best “equipped” not so much as compared with other pragmatist attempts, but as such, to answer some of the hardest challenges posed by contemporary scepticism, even when it comes to the ethical aspects posed by such a challenge. After sketching the major aspects of the sceptical challenge and the most common contemporary answers it gave rise to, an analysis is made of the reasons why the ethical aspect of the challenge is specifically acute, and why, then, in many ways, a pragmaticist approach is not fundamentally different from other pragmatist approaches (in particular Peirce’s and James’); although finally, some arguments are presented in favour of a more straightforwardly Peircian or pragmaticist attitude as being the most efficient parry to the sceptical challenge, along the following lines: 1) a better account of the distinction to be made between ethical and epistemic justification, 2) a more detailed analysis of the mechanisms of doubt, belief, self-control, reasoning and of the emergence and rationality of norms; 3) a more com- plete account of the epistemological and metaphysical aspects of the sceptical challenge which, for a pragmatist, should not be disconnected from the ethical aspects. Key-words: Epistemic justification. -
Introduction Sally Shuttleworth and Geoffrey Cantor
1 Introduction Sally Shuttleworth and Geoffrey Cantor “Reviews are a substitute for all other kinds of reading—a new and royal road to knowledge,” trumpeted Josiah Conder in 1811.1 Conder, who sub- sequently became proprietor and editor of the Eclectic Review, recognized that periodicals were proliferating, rapidly increasing in popularity, and becoming a major sector in the market for print. Although this process had barely begun at the time Conder was writing, the number of peri- odical publications accelerated considerably over the ensuing decades. According to John North, who is currently cataloguing the wonderfully rich variety of British newspapers and periodicals, some 125,000 titles were published in the nineteenth century.2 Many were short-lived, but others, including the Edinburgh Review (1802–1929) and Punch (1841 on), possess long and honorable histories. Not only did titles proliferate, but, as publishers, editors, and proprietors realized, the often-buoyant market for periodicals could be highly profitable and open to entrepreneurial exploitation. A new title might tap—or create—a previously unexploited niche in the market. Although the expensive quarterly reviews, such as the Edinburgh Review and the Quarterly, have attracted much scholarly attention, their circulation figures were small (they generally sold only a few thousand copies), and their readership was predominantly upper middle class. By contrast, the tupenny weekly Mirror of Literature is claimed to have achieved an unprecedented circulation of 150,000 when it was launched in 1822. A few later titles that were likewise cheap and aimed at a mass readership also achieved circulation figures of this magnitude. -
Donna E. West Myrdene Anderson Editors Before and Beyond Consciousness
Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics Donna E. West Myrdene Anderson Editors Consensus on Peirce’s Concept of Habit Before and Beyond Consciousness Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics Volume 31 Series editor Lorenzo Magnani, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy e-mail: [email protected] Editorial Board Atocha Aliseda Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM), Coyoacan, Mexico Giuseppe Longo Centre Cavaillès, CNRS—Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France Chris Sinha Lund University, Lund, Sweden Paul Thagard Waterloo University, Waterloo, ON, Canada John Woods University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada About this Series Studies in Applied Philosophy, Epistemology and Rational Ethics (SAPERE) publishes new developments and advances in all the fields of philosophy, epistemology, and ethics, bringing them together with a cluster of scientific disciplines and technological outcomes: from computer science to life sciences, from economics, law, and education to engineering, logic, and mathematics, from medicine to physics, human sciences, and politics. It aims at covering all the challenging philosophical and ethical themes of contemporary society, making them appropriately applicable to contemporary theoretical, methodological, and practical problems, impasses, controversies, and conflicts. The series includes monographs, lecture notes, selected contributions from specialized conferences and workshops as well as selected Ph.D. theses. Advisory Board A. Abe, Chiba, Japan A. Pereira, São Paulo, Brazil H. Andersen, Copenhagen, Denmark L.M. Pereira, Caparica, Portugal O. Bueno, Coral Gables, USA A.-V. Pietarinen, Helsinki, Finland S. Chandrasekharan, Mumbai, India D. Portides, Nicosia, Cyprus M. Dascal, Tel Aviv, Israel D. Provijn, Ghent, Belgium G.D. Crnkovic, Västerås, Sweden J. Queiroz, Juiz de Fora, Brazil M. -
Contradiction Or Non-Contradiction? Hegel’S Dialectic Between Brandom and Priest
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Padua@research CONTRADICTION OR NON-CONTRADICTION? HEGEL’S DIALECTIC BETWEEN BRANDOM AND PRIEST by Michela Bordignon Abstract. The aim of the paper is to analyse Brandom’s account of Hegel’s conception of determinate negation and the role this structure plays in the dialectical process with respect to the problem of contradiction. After having shown both the merits and the limits of Brandom’s account, I will refer to Priest’s dialetheistic approach to contradiction as an alternative contemporary perspective from which it is possible to capture essential features of Hegel’s notion of contradiction, and I will test the equation of Hegel’s dialectic with Priest dialetheism. 1. Introduction According to Horstmann, «Hegel thinks of his new logic as being in part incompatible with traditional logic»1. The strongest expression of this new conception of logic is the first thesis of the work Hegel wrote in 1801 in order to earn his teaching habilitation: «contradictio est regula veri, non contradictio falsi»2. Hegel seems to claim that contradictions are true. The Hegelian thesis of the truth of contradiction is highly problematic. This is shown by Popper’s critique based on the principle of ex falso quodlibet: «if a theory contains a contradiction, then it entails everything, and therefore, indeed, nothing […]. A theory which involves a contradiction is therefore entirely useless I thank Graham Wetherall for kindly correcting a previous English translation of this paper and for his suggestions and helpful remarks. Of course, all remaining errors are mine. -
A Century of Mathematics in America, Peter Duren Et Ai., (Eds.), Vol
Garrett Birkhoff has had a lifelong connection with Harvard mathematics. He was an infant when his father, the famous mathematician G. D. Birkhoff, joined the Harvard faculty. He has had a long academic career at Harvard: A.B. in 1932, Society of Fellows in 1933-1936, and a faculty appointmentfrom 1936 until his retirement in 1981. His research has ranged widely through alge bra, lattice theory, hydrodynamics, differential equations, scientific computing, and history of mathematics. Among his many publications are books on lattice theory and hydrodynamics, and the pioneering textbook A Survey of Modern Algebra, written jointly with S. Mac Lane. He has served as president ofSIAM and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Mathematics at Harvard, 1836-1944 GARRETT BIRKHOFF O. OUTLINE As my contribution to the history of mathematics in America, I decided to write a connected account of mathematical activity at Harvard from 1836 (Harvard's bicentennial) to the present day. During that time, many mathe maticians at Harvard have tried to respond constructively to the challenges and opportunities confronting them in a rapidly changing world. This essay reviews what might be called the indigenous period, lasting through World War II, during which most members of the Harvard mathe matical faculty had also studied there. Indeed, as will be explained in §§ 1-3 below, mathematical activity at Harvard was dominated by Benjamin Peirce and his students in the first half of this period. Then, from 1890 until around 1920, while our country was becoming a great power economically, basic mathematical research of high quality, mostly in traditional areas of analysis and theoretical celestial mechanics, was carried on by several faculty members. -
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https://lthj.qut.edu.au/ LAW, TECHNOLOGY AND HUMANS Volume 2 (2) 2020 https://doi.org/10.5204/lthj.1483 Divergent Realities Across the Digital–Material Divide Elizabeth Englezos Griffith University, Australia Abstract This article utilises the example of Australia’s social welfare agency ‘Centrelink’ and its Online Compliance Intervention (OCI) program to illustrate the process of digital translation and digital determinations of material reality. The article explains the digital translation process through the adaptation of various aspects of Charles Sanders Peirce’s philosophy such as the triadic sign model, signification, fallibilism and synechism. Semiotics, or the ‘study of meaning making’, highlights the subjective nature of data analysis. A semiotic approach not only explains the differing realities of digital and material space and the lack of distinction between digital and material phenomena, but also provides further insight into algorithmic determinations of reality and the inherent limitations on our knowledge of digital or material reality. The same data can produce divergent realities within digital space and between the material and digital spaces. The article concludes that the design of algorithms, the nature of their representations and the outcomes they generate lack the complexity and nuance of reality, and disregards social influences on meaning and interpretation. As illustrated by the real-life failure of Centrelink’s OCI, this article warns against interpreting the digital as an accurate rendering of the real. Keywords: Digital translation; algorithms; reality; semiotics; digital–material divide. 1. Introduction The all-pervasive nature of digital technology has resulted in a new world order where the digital space has become an increasingly important place of personal existence. -
Peircean Cosmogony's Symbolic Agapistic Self-Organization As an Example of the Influence of Eastern Philosophy on Western Thinking
Peircean Cosmogony's Symbolic Agapistic Self-organization as an Example of the Influence of Eastern Philosophy on Western Thinking Brier, Søren Document Version Accepted author manuscript Published in: Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology DOI: 10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2017.09.010 Publication date: 2017 License CC BY-NC-ND Citation for published version (APA): Brier, S. (2017). Peircean Cosmogony's Symbolic Agapistic Self-organization as an Example of the Influence of Eastern Philosophy on Western Thinking. Progress in Biophysics & Molecular Biology, (131), 92-107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbiomolbio.2017.09.010 Link to publication in CBS Research Portal General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. Take down policy If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us ([email protected]) providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim. Download date: 02. Oct. 2021 Peircean Cosmogony's Symbolic Agapistic Self-organization as an Example of the Influence of Eastern Philosophy on Western Thinking Søren Brier Journal article (Accepted manuscript) CITE: Brier, S. (2017). Peircean Cosmogony's Symbolic Agapistic Self-organization as an Example of the Influence of Eastern Philosophy on Western Thinking. Progress in Biophysics & Molecular -
A Philosophical Commentary on Cs Peirce's “On a New List
The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of the Liberal Arts A PHILOSOPHICAL COMMENTARY ON C. S. PEIRCE'S \ON A NEW LIST OF CATEGORIES": EXHIBITING LOGICAL STRUCTURE AND ABIDING RELEVANCE A Dissertation in Philosophy by Masato Ishida °c 2009 Masato Ishida Submitted in Partial Ful¯lment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy August 2009 The dissertation of Masato Ishida was reviewed and approved¤ by the following: Vincent M. Colapietro Professor of Philosophy Dissertation Advisor Chair of Committee Dennis Schmidt Professor of Philosophy Christopher P. Long Associate Professor of Philosophy Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Philosophy Stephen G. Simpson Professor of Mathematics ¤ Signatures are on ¯le in the Graduate School. ii ABSTRACT This dissertation focuses on C. S. Peirce's relatively early paper \On a New List of Categories"(1867). The entire dissertation is devoted to an extensive and in-depth analysis of this single paper in the form of commentary. All ¯fteen sections of the New List are examined. Rather than considering the textual genesis of the New List, or situating the work narrowly in the early philosophy of Peirce, as previous scholarship has done, this work pursues the genuine philosophical content of the New List, while paying attention to the later philosophy of Peirce as well. Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason is also taken into serious account, to which Peirce contrasted his new theory of categories. iii Table of Contents List of Figures . ix Acknowledgements . xi General Introduction 1 The Subject of the Dissertation . 1 Features of the Dissertation .