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70 votes
6 answers
8k views

The logic of Buddha: a formal approach

Buddhist logic is a branch of Indian logic (see also Nyaya), one of the three original traditions of logic, alongside the Greek and the Chinese logic. It seems Buddha himself used some of the features ...
Morteza Azad's user avatar
45 votes
1 answer
3k views

Hilbert's alleged proof of the Continuum Hypothesis in "On the Infinite"

As is known, Hilbert attempted a proof sketch of the Continuum Hypothesis in the latter part of his paper, "On the Infinite". It is also known that it is false. Has there ever been a published ...
Thomas Benjamin's user avatar
43 votes
16 answers
9k views

Essential reads in the philosophy of mathematics and set theory

I am graduate student and have a decent understanding of logic and set theory. Recently I have got interested in the philosophy of mathematics and set theory. I have read a number of papers by ...
26 votes
7 answers
6k views

What "forces" us to accept large cardinal axioms?

Large cardinal axioms are not provable using usual mathematical tools (developed in $\text{ZFC}$). Their non-existence is consistent with axioms of usual mathematics. It is provable that some of ...
user avatar
21 votes
2 answers
2k views

Philosophical arguments in defense (or against) large cardinals

The question is essentially what is asked in the title. I split it into two parts (A) (Arguments supporting the existence of large cardinals) What are the main philosophical arguments in defense of ...
13 votes
0 answers
2k views

Is there any correspondence between Gödel and Kreisel that supports Kreisel's observation that Gödel changed his mind about his 1938 set theory note?

At a conference in 1965 there were some interesting comments made by Kreisel and Mostowski asserting that Gödel later changed his mind regarding his1938 note on his set theory results (see Problems in ...
M. Solomon's user avatar
13 votes
0 answers
882 views

Arguments against Freiling's argument against Continuum Hypothesis

Freiling's axiom of symmetry ($\sf AS$) is known as a justification for falsity of Continuum Hypothesis. Freiling in his 1986 paper, Axioms of symmetry: throwing darts at the real number line, ...
Morteza Azad's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
3k views

Has Dedekind's proof of existence of infinite sets been analyzed by historians?

This pdf by David Joyce notes that in paragraph 66 of his famous essay, Dedekind claims to prove the existence of an infinite set. The proof exploits the assumption that there exists a set $S$ of all ...
Mikhail Katz's user avatar
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11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Last Status of Feferman's Conjecture on Indefinite Value of Continuum

The "true" value of $2^{\aleph_0}$ is one of the most fundamental open questions of mathematics and its philosophy. Hundreds of set theoretic results during the last century don't say anything more ...
user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

The impact of large cardinals in mathematics [closed]

What are the main applications of large cardinals in ordinary mathematics, and what is the philosophy behind using them. In particular: Question 1. What is the philosophy behind accepting large ...
Mohammad Golshani's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
342 views

A Question Regarding Boolean-valued Models

What were the intuitions motivating the creation (or discovery, if you will) of Boolean-valued models? I have searched for the Scott-Solovay paper on the subject, but to no avail. There also seems to ...
Thomas Benjamin's user avatar