Date: Mar 25, 2013 10:01 PM
Author: David Petry
Subject: Re: Mathematics and the Roots of Postmodern Thought
On Monday, March 25, 2013 1:42:27 PM UTC-7, fom wrote:
> Frege once characterized the empty set as a "forest without trees".
> Modern mereology follows Lesniewski in denying the existence of
> an empty set.
> Shall these be accepted as arguments to ban speaking of zero?
Mathematics can be thought of as a conceptual framework for reasoning about the real world. You would have trouble convincing me that "zero" is not an essential concept within that conceptual framework
> Even if Cantor viewed his own conception in terms of
> realism, why do you presume that this is required of
> everyone else?
Ockham's razor. Keep it simple. Yada, yada.