Set Theory and its Philosophy

Set Theory and its Philosophy PDF Author: Michael Potter
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191556432
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362

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Book Description
Michael Potter presents a comprehensive new philosophical introduction to set theory. Anyone wishing to work on the logical foundations of mathematics must understand set theory, which lies at its heart. Potter offers a thorough account of cardinal and ordinal arithmetic, and the various axiom candidates. He discusses in detail the project of set-theoretic reduction, which aims to interpret the rest of mathematics in terms of set theory. The key question here is how to deal with the paradoxes that bedevil set theory. Potter offers a strikingly simple version of the most widely accepted response to the paradoxes, which classifies sets by means of a hierarchy of levels. What makes the book unique is that it interweaves a careful presentation of the technical material with a penetrating philosophical critique. Potter does not merely expound the theory dogmatically but at every stage discusses in detail the reasons that can be offered for believing it to be true. Set Theory and its Philosophy is a key text for philosophy, mathematical logic, and computer science.

Set Theory and its Philosophy

Set Theory and its Philosophy PDF Author: Michael Potter
Publisher: Clarendon Press
ISBN: 0191556432
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 362

Get Book

Book Description
Michael Potter presents a comprehensive new philosophical introduction to set theory. Anyone wishing to work on the logical foundations of mathematics must understand set theory, which lies at its heart. Potter offers a thorough account of cardinal and ordinal arithmetic, and the various axiom candidates. He discusses in detail the project of set-theoretic reduction, which aims to interpret the rest of mathematics in terms of set theory. The key question here is how to deal with the paradoxes that bedevil set theory. Potter offers a strikingly simple version of the most widely accepted response to the paradoxes, which classifies sets by means of a hierarchy of levels. What makes the book unique is that it interweaves a careful presentation of the technical material with a penetrating philosophical critique. Potter does not merely expound the theory dogmatically but at every stage discusses in detail the reasons that can be offered for believing it to be true. Set Theory and its Philosophy is a key text for philosophy, mathematical logic, and computer science.

The Philosophy of Set Theory

The Philosophy of Set Theory PDF Author: Mary Tiles
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486138550
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
DIVBeginning with perspectives on the finite universe and classes and Aristotelian logic, the author examines permutations, combinations, and infinite cardinalities; numbering the continuum; Cantor's transfinite paradise; axiomatic set theory, and more. /div

Philosophical Introduction to Set Theory

Philosophical Introduction to Set Theory PDF Author: Stephen Pollard
Publisher: Courier Dover Publications
ISBN: 0486797147
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This unique approach maintains that set theory is the primary mechanism for ideological and theoretical unification in modern mathematics, and its technically informed discussion covers a variety of philosophical issues. 1990 edition.

Defending the Axioms

Defending the Axioms PDF Author: Penelope Maddy
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199596182
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
Mathematics depends on proofs, and proofs must begin somewhere, from some fundamental assumptions. The axioms of set theory have long played this role, so the question of how they are properly judged is of central importance. Maddy discusses the appropriate methods for such evaluations and the philosophical backdrop that makes them appropriate.

Quine, New Foundations, and the Philosophy of Set Theory

Quine, New Foundations, and the Philosophy of Set Theory PDF Author: Sean Morris
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110715250X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Provides an accessible mathematical and philosophical account of Quine's set theory, New Foundations.

Set Theory and the Continuum Hypothesis

Set Theory and the Continuum Hypothesis PDF Author: Paul J. Cohen
Publisher: Courier Corporation
ISBN: 0486469212
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This exploration of a notorious mathematical problem is the work of the man who discovered the solution. Written by an award-winning professor at Stanford University, it employs intuitive explanations as well as detailed mathematical proofs in a self-contained treatment. This unique text and reference is suitable for students and professionals. 1966 edition. Copyright renewed 1994.

Universality in Set Theories

Universality in Set Theories PDF Author: Manuel Bremer
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter
ISBN: 3110326108
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 125

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Book Description
The book discusses the fate of universality and a universal set in several set theories. The book aims at a philosophical study of ontological and conceptual questions around set theory. Set theories are ontologies. They posit sets and claim that these exhibit the essential properties laid down in the set theoretical axioms. Collecting these postulated entities quantified over poses the problem of universality. Is the collection of the set theoretical entities itself a set theoretical entity? What does it mean if it is, and what does it mean if it is not? To answer these questions involves developing a theory of the universal set. We have to ask: Are there different aspects to universality in set theory, which stand in conflict to each other? May inconsistency be the price to pay to circumvent ineffability? And most importantly: How far can axiomatic ontology take us out of the problems around universality?

Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics

Lectures on the Philosophy of Mathematics PDF Author: Joel David Hamkins
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 0262542234
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 350

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Book Description
An introduction to the philosophy of mathematics grounded in mathematics and motivated by mathematical inquiry and practice. In this book, Joel David Hamkins offers an introduction to the philosophy of mathematics that is grounded in mathematics and motivated by mathematical inquiry and practice. He treats philosophical issues as they arise organically in mathematics, discussing such topics as platonism, realism, logicism, structuralism, formalism, infinity, and intuitionism in mathematical contexts. He organizes the book by mathematical themes--numbers, rigor, geometry, proof, computability, incompleteness, and set theory--that give rise again and again to philosophical considerations.

Set Theory

Set Theory PDF Author: John P. Burgess
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781108986915
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 75

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Book Description
Set theory is a branch of mathematics with a special subject matter, the infinite, but also a general framework for all modern mathematics, whose notions figure in every branch, pure and applied. This Element will offer a concise introduction, treating the origins of the subject, the basic notion of set, the axioms of set theory and immediate consequences, the set-theoretic reconstruction of mathematics, and the theory of the infinite, touching also on selected topics from higher set theory, controversial axioms and undecided questions, and philosophical issues raised by technical developments.

Conceptions of Set and the Foundations of Mathematics

Conceptions of Set and the Foundations of Mathematics PDF Author: Luca Incurvati
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108497829
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Presents a detailed and critical examination of the available conceptions of set and proposes a novel version.