Just so my friend Jim's comments to Kory will have some context:
From: Jim Whitescarver <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Re: Mathematical Logic, Podnieks'page ... Yes Kory, one needs to be explicit about what they mean by Platonist. I try to be explicit, by Platonic thinking, logic or reasoning I mean: 1. Platonic logic: law of excluded middle, a proposition may be true or false, there is no third alternative. Proof by induction is not questioned. Logical systems are necessarily incomplete. 2. Platonic existence: that which exists need not be constructible, infinities may be invoked at will and are attributed actuality. Platonist reasoning is the antithesis of constructionism. In constructionism you can have a set of points equal distance from one point but the set of all such points is considered imaginary, not real. You may have irrational numbers but only those generated by the countable set of algorithms exist. Others are random and cannot be constructed by any algorithm and therefore cannot exist. Jim Kory Heath wrote: > At 09:19 AM 6/30/2004, Bruno Marchal wrote: > >Also, you said that your are not platonist. Could you tell me how you > >understand > >the proposition that the number seventeen is prime. (I want just be > sure I > >understand your own philosophical hypothesis). > CMR <- insert gratuitous quotation that implies my profundity here ->
