Monthly Archives: June 2008

Parsons’s Mathematical Thought: Sec. 6, ‘Being and existence’

Posted on June 10, 2008

At the outset of this section, Parsons writes that one point at which “reservations about standard first-order logic as the universal measure of ontology can affect the notion of mathematical object is the ancient question whether reference to objects is … Continue reading →

Posted in Logic, Math. Thought and Its Objects | 2 Comments

Postcard from Siena – 5

Posted on June 8, 2008

We normally never watch breakfast TV, but here we have the excuse of trying to pick up more Italian: and actually it isn’t at all bad. The weekend show we watch has a nice slot visiting different places around Italy … Continue reading →

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Awodey’s Category Theory: Ch. 1

Posted on June 8, 2008

I bought Steve Awodey’s book Category Theory (Oxford Logic Guides, Clarendon Press, 2006) when it first came out. Awodey says that his book is aimed, inter alia, at “researchers and students” in philosophy; I’d been impressed and intrigued by a … Continue reading →

Posted in This and that | 8 Comments

Parsons’s Mathematical Thought: Sec. 5

Posted on June 7, 2008

Parsons has been proposing the view that “speaking of objects just is using the linguistic devices of singular terms, predication, identity and quantification”. And the focus so far has been on first-order quantification. But what about generalizations about properties, the … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Siena – 4

Posted on June 6, 2008

I need to reread Parsons’s next section before posting on that, as I’m not sure I have the measure of it (his book is evidently the distillation of a lot of thought over a long time, so it isn’t going … Continue reading →

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Postcard from Siena – 3

Posted on June 5, 2008

Even in rainy first light, Tuscany is beautiful, and the views from our windows remain wonderful. But yesterday started bright and dry, and we set off over the hills via Asciano by backroads to Montalcino to meet up with a … Continue reading →

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Parsons’s Mathematical Thought: Secs. 1-4

Posted on June 4, 2008

Right, as promised, time to make a start commenting on Charles Parsons’s long awaited Mathematical Thought and Its Objects (CUP, 2008). For those who haven’t had a copy in their hands, this is a pretty substantial volume (pp. xx + … Continue reading →

Posted in Logic, Math. Thought and Its Objects | 3 Comments

Postcard from Siena – 2

Posted on June 2, 2008

In the little piazza beneath our window, children have been celebrating their first communion. Being Italy, the occasion is marked before and after by a lot of noise, clanging bells and a brass band, and the inevitable gathering for food … Continue reading →

Posted in Italian matters, Religion | 2 Comments