Abstraction and Infinity

Erscheinungsjahr 2019
ISBN: 978-0-19-882268-4
Verlag: OXFORD UNIV PR

Buch, Englisch, 240 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 360 g

Paolo Mancosu provides an original investigation of historical and systematic aspects of the notions of abstraction and infinity and their interaction. A familiar way of introducing concepts in mathematics rests on so-called definitions by abstraction. An example of this is Hume's Principle, which introduces the concept of number by stating that two concepts have the same number if and only if the objects falling under each one of them can be put in one-one
correspondence. This principle is at the core of neo-logicism.

In the first two chapters of the book, Mancosu provides a historical analysis of the mathematical uses and foundational discussion of definitions by abstraction up to Frege, Peano, and Russell. Chapter one shows that abstraction principles were quite widespread in the mathematical practice that preceded Frege's discussion of them and the second chapter provides the first contextual analysis of Frege's discussion of abstraction principles in section 64 of the Grundlagen. In the second part of
the book, Mancosu discusses a novel approach to measuring the size of infinite sets known as the theory of numerosities and shows how this new development leads to deep mathematical, historical, and philosophical problems. The final chapter of the book explore how this theory of numerosities can be
exploited to provide surprisingly novel perspectives on neo-logicism.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mancosu, Paolo

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie der Mathematik, Philosophie der Physik
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophische Logik, Argumentationstheorie
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden
• Mathematik | Informatik Mathematik Mathematik Allgemein Philosophie der Mathematik

Über Autor(innen)

Paolo Mancosu is Willis S. and Marion Slusser Professor of Philosophy at the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author of numerous articles and books in logic and philosophy of mathematics. He is also the author of Inside the Zhivago Storm: The editorial adventures of Pasternak's masterpiece (Feltrinelli, Milan, 2013). During his career he has taught at Stanford, Oxford, and Yale. He has been a fellow of the Humboldt Stiftung, the
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Institut d'Études Avancées in Paris. He has received grants from the Guggenheim Foundation, the NSF, and the CNRS.