Brent Meeker writes (quoting SP): > >>But the fact that a theorem is true relative to some axioms doesn't make it > >>true > >>or existent. Some mathematicians I know regard it as a game. Is true that > >>a > >>bishop can only move diagonally? It is relative to chess. Does chess > >>exist? > >>It does in our heads. But without us it wouldn't. > > > > > > What more could we possibly ask of a theorem other than that it be true > > relative to some > > axioms? That a theorem should describe some aspect of the real world, or > > that it should > > be discovered by some mathematician, is contingent on the nature of the > > real world, but that > > it is true is not. > > That it is a true description of the real world, or that it is a true theorem > relative to the axioms. It is a mistake to conflate the two, which I suspect > is > done by people claiming mathematical theorems are true.
OK then, I agree. The two should not be conflated. Stathis Papaioannou _________________________________________________________________ Be one of the first to try Windows Live Mail. http://ideas.live.com/programpage.aspx?versionId=5d21c51a-b161-4314-9b0e-4911fb2b2e6d --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
