John Von Neumann and Hilbert's School of Foundations of Mathematics∗
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Poznań Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities), 21Pp
Forthcoming in: Uncovering Facts and Values, ed. A. Kuzniar and J. Odrowąż-Sypniewska (Poznań Studies in the Philosophy of the Sciences and the Humanities), 21pp. Abstract Alfred Tarski seems to endorse a partial conception of truth, the T-schema, which he believes might be clarified by the application of empirical methods, specifically citing the experimental results of Arne Næss (1938a). The aim of this paper is to argue that Næss’ empirical work confirmed Tarski’s semantic conception of truth, among others. In the first part, I lay out the case for believing that Tarski’s T-schema, while not the formal and generalizable Convention-T, provides a partial account of truth that may be buttressed by an examination of the ordinary person’s views of truth. Then, I address a concern raised by Tarski’s contemporaries who saw Næss’ results as refuting Tarski’s semantic conception. Following that, I summarize Næss’ results. Finally, I will contend with a few objections that suggest a strict interpretation of Næss’ results might recommend an overturning of Tarski’s theory. Keywords: truth, Alfred Tarski, Arne Næss, Vienna Circle, experimental philosophy Joseph Ulatowski ORDINARY TRUTH IN TARSKI AND NÆSS 1. Introduction Many of Alfred Tarski's better known papers on truth (e.g. 1944; 1983b), logical consequence (1983c), semantic concepts in general (1983a), or definability (1948) identify two conditions that successful definitions of “truth,” “logical consequence,” or “definition” require: formal correctness and material (or intuitive) adequacy.1 The first condition Tarski calls “formal correctness” because a definition of truth (for a given formal language) is formally correct when it is constructed in a manner that allows us to avoid both circular definition and semantic paradoxes. -
Journal Abbreviations
Abbreviations of Names of Serials This list gives the form of references used in Mathematical Reviews (MR). not previously listed ⇤ The abbreviation is followed by the complete title, the place of publication journal indexed cover-to-cover § and other pertinent information. † monographic series Update date: July 1, 2016 4OR 4OR. A Quarterly Journal of Operations Research. Springer, Berlin. ISSN Acta Math. Hungar. Acta Mathematica Hungarica. Akad. Kiad´o,Budapest. § 1619-4500. ISSN 0236-5294. 29o Col´oq. Bras. Mat. 29o Col´oquio Brasileiro de Matem´atica. [29th Brazilian Acta Math. Sci. Ser. A Chin. Ed. Acta Mathematica Scientia. Series A. Shuxue † § Mathematics Colloquium] Inst. Nac. Mat. Pura Apl. (IMPA), Rio de Janeiro. Wuli Xuebao. Chinese Edition. Kexue Chubanshe (Science Press), Beijing. ISSN o o † 30 Col´oq. Bras. Mat. 30 Col´oquio Brasileiro de Matem´atica. [30th Brazilian 1003-3998. ⇤ Mathematics Colloquium] Inst. Nac. Mat. Pura Apl. (IMPA), Rio de Janeiro. Acta Math. Sci. Ser. B Engl. Ed. Acta Mathematica Scientia. Series B. English § Edition. Sci. Press Beijing, Beijing. ISSN 0252-9602. † Aastaraam. Eesti Mat. Selts Aastaraamat. Eesti Matemaatika Selts. [Annual. Estonian Mathematical Society] Eesti Mat. Selts, Tartu. ISSN 1406-4316. Acta Math. Sin. (Engl. Ser.) Acta Mathematica Sinica (English Series). § Springer, Berlin. ISSN 1439-8516. † Abel Symp. Abel Symposia. Springer, Heidelberg. ISSN 2193-2808. Abh. Akad. Wiss. G¨ottingen Neue Folge Abhandlungen der Akademie der Acta Math. Sinica (Chin. Ser.) Acta Mathematica Sinica. Chinese Series. † § Wissenschaften zu G¨ottingen. Neue Folge. [Papers of the Academy of Sciences Chinese Math. Soc., Acta Math. Sinica Ed. Comm., Beijing. ISSN 0583-1431. -
Matematické Ćasopisy Vedené V Databázi SCOPUS
Matematické časopisy vedené v databázi SCOPUS (stav k 21. 1. 2009) Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universitat Hamburg Abstract and Applied Analysis ACM Computing Surveys ACM Transactions on Algorithms ACM Transactions on Computational Logic ACM Transactions on Computer Systems ACM Transactions on Speech and Language Processing Acta Applicandae Mathematicae Acta Arithmetica Acta Mathematica Acta Mathematica Academiae Paedagogicae Nyiregyhaziensis Acta Mathematica Hungarica Acta Mathematica Scientia Acta Mathematica Sinica, English Series Acta Mathematica Universitatis Comenianae Acta Mathematicae Applicatae Sinica Acta Mathematicae Applicatae Sinica, English Series Acta Mechanica Sinica Acta Numerica Advanced Nonlinear Studies Advanced Studies in Contemporary Mathematics (Kyungshang) Advanced Studies in Theoretical Physics Advances in Applied Clifford Algebras Advances in Applied Mathematics Advances in Applied Probability Advances in Computational Mathematics Advances in Difference Equations Advances in Geometry Advances in Mathematics Advances in modelling and analysis. A, general mathematical and computer tools Advances in Nonlinear Variational Inequalities Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics Aequationes Mathematicae Algebra and Logic Algebra Colloquium Algebra Universalis Algebras and Representation Theory Algorithms for Molecular Biology American Journal of Mathematical and Management Sciences American Journal of Mathematics American Mathematical Monthly Analysis in Theory and Applications Analysis Mathematica -
The Iterative Conception of Set
The Iterative Conception of Set Thomas Forster Centre for Mathematical Sciences Wilberforce Road Cambridge, CB3 0WB, U.K. September 4, 2009 Contents 1 The Cumulative Hierarchy 2 2 The Two-Constructor case 5 2.1 Set Equality in the Two-Constructor Case . 6 3 More Wands 9 3.1 Second-order categoricity .................... 9 3.2 Equality . 10 3.3 Restricted quantifiers . 10 3.4 Forcing . 11 4 Objections 11 4.1 Sets Constituted by their Members . 12 4.2 The End of Time . 12 4.2.1 What is it an argument against? . 13 4.3 How Many Wands? . 13 5 Church-Oswald models 14 5.1 The Significance of the Church-Oswald Interpretation . 16 5.2 Forti-Honsell Antifoundation . 16 6 Envoi: Why considering the two-wand construction might be helpful 17 1 Abstract The two expressions “The cumulative hierarchy” and “The iterative con- ception of sets” are usually taken to be synonymous. However the second is more general than the first, in that there are recursive procedures that generate some illfounded sets in addition to wellfounded sets. The inter- esting question is whether or not the arguments in favour of the more restrictive version—the cumulative hierarchy—were all along arguments for the more general version. The phrase “The iterative conception of sets” conjures up a picture of a particular set-theoretic universe—the cumulative hierarchy—and the constant conjunction of phrase-with-picture is so reliable that people tend to think that the cumulative hierarchy is all there is to the iterative conception of sets: if you conceive sets iteratively then the result is the cumulative hierarchy. -
Cantor on Infinity in Nature, Number, and the Divine Mind
Cantor on Infinity in Nature, Number, and the Divine Mind Anne Newstead Abstract. The mathematician Georg Cantor strongly believed in the existence of actually infinite numbers and sets. Cantor’s “actualism” went against the Aristote- lian tradition in metaphysics and mathematics. Under the pressures to defend his theory, his metaphysics changed from Spinozistic monism to Leibnizian volunta- rist dualism. The factor motivating this change was two-fold: the desire to avoid antinomies associated with the notion of a universal collection and the desire to avoid the heresy of necessitarian pantheism. We document the changes in Can- tor’s thought with reference to his main philosophical-mathematical treatise, the Grundlagen (1883) as well as with reference to his article, “Über die verschiedenen Standpunkte in bezug auf das aktuelle Unendliche” (“Concerning Various Perspec- tives on the Actual Infinite”) (1885). I. he Philosophical Reception of Cantor’s Ideas. Georg Cantor’s dis- covery of transfinite numbers was revolutionary. Bertrand Russell Tdescribed it thus: The mathematical theory of infinity may almost be said to begin with Cantor. The infinitesimal Calculus, though it cannot wholly dispense with infinity, has as few dealings with it as possible, and contrives to hide it away before facing the world Cantor has abandoned this cowardly policy, and has brought the skeleton out of its cupboard. He has been emboldened on this course by denying that it is a skeleton. Indeed, like many other skeletons, it was wholly dependent on its cupboard, and vanished in the light of day.1 1Bertrand Russell, The Principles of Mathematics (London: Routledge, 1992 [1903]), 304. -
Alfred Tarski His:Bio:Tar: Sec Alfred Tarski Was Born on January 14, 1901 in Warsaw, Poland (Then Part of the Russian Empire)
bio.1 Alfred Tarski his:bio:tar: sec Alfred Tarski was born on January 14, 1901 in Warsaw, Poland (then part of the Russian Empire). Described as \Napoleonic," Tarski was boisterous, talkative, and intense. His energy was often reflected in his lectures|he once set fire to a wastebasket while disposing of a cigarette during a lecture, and was forbidden from lecturing in that building again. Tarski had a thirst for knowledge from a young age. Although later in life he would tell students that he stud- ied logic because it was the only class in which he got a B, his high school records show that he got A's across the board| even in logic. He studied at the Univer- sity of Warsaw from 1918 to 1924. Tarski Figure 1: Alfred Tarski first intended to study biology, but be- came interested in mathematics, philosophy, and logic, as the university was the center of the Warsaw School of Logic and Philosophy. Tarski earned his doctorate in 1924 under the supervision of Stanislaw Le´sniewski. Before emigrating to the United States in 1939, Tarski completed some of his most important work while working as a secondary school teacher in Warsaw. His work on logical consequence and logical truth were written during this time. In 1939, Tarski was visiting the United States for a lecture tour. During his visit, Germany invaded Poland, and because of his Jewish heritage, Tarski could not return. His wife and children remained in Poland until the end of the war, but were then able to emigrate to the United States as well. -
Alfred Tarski and a Watershed Meeting in Logic: Cornell, 1957 Solomon Feferman1
Alfred Tarski and a watershed meeting in logic: Cornell, 1957 Solomon Feferman1 For Jan Wolenski, on the occasion of his 60th birthday2 In the summer of 1957 at Cornell University the first of a cavalcade of large-scale meetings partially or completely devoted to logic took place--the five-week long Summer Institute for Symbolic Logic. That meeting turned out to be a watershed event in the development of logic: it was unique in bringing together for such an extended period researchers at every level in all parts of the subject, and the synergetic connections established there would thenceforth change the face of mathematical logic both qualitatively and quantitatively. Prior to the Cornell meeting there had been nothing remotely like it for logicians. Previously, with the growing importance in the twentieth century of their subject both in mathematics and philosophy, it had been natural for many of the broadly representative meetings of mathematicians and of philosophers to include lectures by logicians or even have special sections devoted to logic. Only with the establishment of the Association for Symbolic Logic in 1936 did logicians begin to meet regularly by themselves, but until the 1950s these occasions were usually relatively short in duration, never more than a day or two. Alfred Tarski was one of the principal organizers of the Cornell institute and of some of the major meetings to follow on its heels. Before the outbreak of World War II, outside of Poland Tarski had primarily been involved in several Unity of Science Congresses, including the first, in Paris in 1935, and the fifth, at Harvard in September, 1939. -
David Hilbert's Contributions to Logical Theory
David Hilbert’s contributions to logical theory CURTIS FRANKS 1. A mathematician’s cast of mind Charles Sanders Peirce famously declared that “no two things could be more directly opposite than the cast of mind of the logician and that of the mathematician” (Peirce 1976, p. 595), and one who would take his word for it could only ascribe to David Hilbert that mindset opposed to the thought of his contemporaries, Frege, Gentzen, Godel,¨ Heyting, Łukasiewicz, and Skolem. They were the logicians par excellence of a generation that saw Hilbert seated at the helm of German mathematical research. Of Hilbert’s numerous scientific achievements, not one properly belongs to the domain of logic. In fact several of the great logical discoveries of the 20th century revealed deep errors in Hilbert’s intuitions—exemplifying, one might say, Peirce’s bald generalization. Yet to Peirce’s addendum that “[i]t is almost inconceivable that a man should be great in both ways” (Ibid.), Hilbert stands as perhaps history’s principle counter-example. It is to Hilbert that we owe the fundamental ideas and goals (indeed, even the name) of proof theory, the first systematic development and application of the methods (even if the field would be named only half a century later) of model theory, and the statement of the first definitive problem in recursion theory. And he did more. Beyond giving shape to the various sub-disciplines of modern logic, Hilbert brought them each under the umbrella of mainstream mathematical activity, so that for the first time in history teams of researchers shared a common sense of logic’s open problems, key concepts, and central techniques. -
Cantor-Von Neumann Set-Theory Fa Muller
Logique & Analyse 213 (2011), x–x CANTOR-VON NEUMANN SET-THEORY F.A. MULLER Abstract In this elementary paper we establish a few novel results in set the- ory; their interest is wholly foundational-philosophical in motiva- tion. We show that in Cantor-Von Neumann Set-Theory, which is a reformulation of Von Neumann's original theory of functions and things that does not introduce `classes' (let alone `proper classes'), developed in the 1920ies, both the Pairing Axiom and `half' the Axiom of Limitation are redundant — the last result is novel. Fur- ther we show, in contrast to how things are usually done, that some theorems, notably the Pairing Axiom, can be proved without invok- ing the Replacement Schema (F) and the Power-Set Axiom. Also the Axiom of Choice is redundant in CVN, because it a theorem of CVN. The philosophical interest of Cantor-Von Neumann Set- Theory, which is very succinctly indicated, lies in the fact that it is far better suited than Zermelo-Fraenkel Set-Theory as an axioma- tisation of what Hilbert famously called Cantor's Paradise. From Cantor one needs to jump to Von Neumann, over the heads of Zer- melo and Fraenkel, and then reformulate. 0. Introduction In 1928, Von Neumann published his grand axiomatisation of Cantorian Set- Theory [1925; 1928]. Although Von Neumann's motivation was thoroughly Cantorian, he did not take the concept of a set and the membership-relation as primitive notions, but the concepts of a thing and a function — for rea- sons we do not go into here. This, and Von Neumann's cumbersome nota- tion and terminology (II-things, II.I-things) are the main reasons why ini- tially his theory remained comparatively obscure. -
Einstein and Hilbert: the Creation of General Relativity
EINSTEIN AND HILBERT: THE CREATION OF GENERAL RELATIVITY ∗ Ivan T. Todorov Institut f¨ur Theoretische Physik, Universit¨at G¨ottingen, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1 D-37077 G¨ottingen, Germany; e-mail: [email protected] and Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Tsarigradsko Chaussee 72, BG-1784 Sofia, Bulgaria;∗∗e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT It took eight years after Einstein announced the basic physical ideas behind the relativistic gravity theory before the proper mathematical formulation of general relativity was mastered. The efforts of the greatest physicist and of the greatest mathematician of the time were involved and reached a breathtaking concentration during the last month of the work. Recent controversy, raised by a much publicized 1997 reading of Hilbert’s proof- sheets of his article of November 1915, is also discussed. arXiv:physics/0504179v1 [physics.hist-ph] 25 Apr 2005 ∗ Expanded version of a Colloquium lecture held at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, 9 December 1992 and (updated) at the International University Bremen, 15 March 2005. ∗∗ Permanent address. Introduction Since the supergravity fashion and especially since the birth of superstrings a new science emerged which may be called “high energy mathematical physics”. One fad changes the other each going further away from accessible experiments and into mathe- matical models, ending up, at best, with the solution of an interesting problem in pure mathematics. The realization of the grand original design seems to be, decades later, nowhere in sight. For quite some time, though, the temptation for mathematical physi- cists (including leading mathematicians) was hard to resist. -
I Want to Start My Story in Germany, in 1877, with a Mathematician Named Georg Cantor
LISTENING - Ron Eglash is talking about his project http://www.ted.com/talks/ 1) Do you understand these words? iteration mission scale altar mound recursion crinkle 2) Listen and answer the questions. 1. What did Georg Cantor discover? What were the consequences for him? 2. What did von Koch do? 3. What did Benoit Mandelbrot realize? 4. Why should we look at our hand? 5. What did Ron get a scholarship for? 6. In what situation did Ron use the phrase “I am a mathematician and I would like to stand on your roof.” ? 7. What is special about the royal palace? 8. What do the rings in a village in southern Zambia represent? 3)Listen for the second time and decide whether the statements are true or false. 1. Cantor realized that he had a set whose number of elements was equal to infinity. 2. When he was released from a hospital, he lost his faith in God. 3. We can use whatever seed shape we like to start with. 4. Mathematicians of the 19th century did not understand the concept of iteration and infinity. 5. Ron mentions lungs, kidney, ferns, and acacia trees to demonstrate fractals in nature. 6. The chief was very surprised when Ron wanted to see his village. 7. Termites do not create conscious fractals when building their mounds. 8. The tiny village inside the larger village is for very old people. I want to start my story in Germany, in 1877, with a mathematician named Georg Cantor. And Cantor decided he was going to take a line and erase the middle third of the line, and take those two resulting lines and bring them back into the same process, a recursive process. -
The Z of ZF and ZFC and ZF¬C
From SIAM News , Volume 41, Number 1, January/February 2008 The Z of ZF and ZFC and ZF ¬C Ernst Zermelo: An Approach to His Life and Work. By Heinz-Dieter Ebbinghaus, Springer, New York, 2007, 356 pages, $64.95. The Z, of course, is Ernst Zermelo (1871–1953). The F, in case you had forgotten, is Abraham Fraenkel (1891–1965), and the C is the notorious Axiom of Choice. The book under review, by a prominent logician at the University of Freiburg, is a splendid in-depth biography of a complex man, a treatment that shies away neither from personal details nor from the mathematical details of Zermelo’s creations. BOOK R EV IEW Zermelo was a Berliner whose early scientific work was in applied By Philip J. Davis mathematics: His PhD thesis (1894) was in the calculus of variations. He had thought about this topic for at least ten additional years when, in 1904, in collaboration with Hans Hahn, he wrote an article on the subject for the famous Enzyclopedia der Mathematische Wissenschaften . In point of fact, though he is remembered today primarily for his axiomatization of set theory, he never really gave up applications. In his Habilitation thesis (1899), Zermelo was arguing with Ludwig Boltzmann about the foun - dations of the kinetic theory of heat. Around 1929, he was working on the problem of the path of an airplane going in minimal time from A to B at constant speed but against a distribution of winds. This was a problem that engaged Levi-Civita, von Mises, Carathéodory, Philipp Frank, and even more recent investigators.