All Questions
Tagged with existence philosophy-of-mathematics
13
questions
6
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4
answers
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Nothingness: What philosophical concept relates to how the empty set is a subset of every set?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
“Where do vanished objects go?"
"Into nonbeing, which is to say, everything," replied Professor
McGonagall.
"Nicely phrased," replied ...
- 219
1
vote
0
answers
41
views
Can the "doctrine of degrees of existence" be used to support the well-ordering lemma apart from the axiom of choice?
I was pleasantly surprised to read (in a Wikipedia article) that:
In second order logic, however, the well-ordering theorem is strictly stronger than the axiom of choice: from the well-ordering ...
- 16.7k
-1
votes
2
answers
342
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Must mathematical entities necessarily exist? [duplicate]
Are mathematical entities necessarily existing objects? That is to say, it is impossible for e.g. the real numbers not to exist. Have any philosophers talked about this topic?
- 7,686
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If the Universe(s) didn't exist, Would all maths still exist?
Many scientists say that maths transcends creation, the future, it exists for all time. For example the Mandelbrot is just an equation that can still exist when the universe goes cold.
Because I don'...
- 182
1
vote
7
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Do whole numbers other than zero actually exist?
Think about counting up: you start from 0. There are many decimals in between 0 and 1, actually, an infinite amount of decimals are there. So in the same way that there is no last number there is no ...
- 21
1
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0
answers
268
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Does string theory raise new philosophical questions about existence of physical objects?
If you look at the configuration space of a robot arm, it is a manifold. Does this manifold exist in the same sense as strings in string theory? Or do the strings in string theory exist in another ...
- 111
1
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0
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55
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Do (any) philosophers worry if there can be a priori truths about a changing world?
Do (any) philosophers question how there can be a priori truths about a changing world -- has anyone worried whether this is possible, or if those different modes, of timeless truth and contingent ...
- 185
3
votes
1
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363
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Does the simulation hypothesis confuse discovering with inventing?
The simulation hypothesis seems to stipulate that the actual simulation is what makes the inhabitants of the simulated universe to come alive, to exist.
This is what I am questioning. If I create a ...
- 131
6
votes
2
answers
458
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Existence vs tertium non datur
This is my first question here, sorry if it turns out to be a duplicate. Mathematical constructivism states that contradicting the non-existence of something won't imply its existence. Does it mean ...
- 163
4
votes
5
answers
2k
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Why do we have a problem about understanding the concept of the "empty set"?
The title seems quite bit more generalized, but I'm saying about the philosophers and mathematicians in the past who discussed about the concept of nothing, or the empty set. I'm ...
- 221
4
votes
1
answer
604
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Illogical part of universe
This question is based on many assumptions:
That since universe could not appear out of itself and could not be created by someone there has to be a other part of 'universe' (I am not sure if ...
- 1,417
4
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2
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647
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Could our universe simply be abstract mathematical existence?
Say we imagined a mathematical model so detailed that it completely describes a universe like our own. Now if we simulated such a universe on a futuristic supercomputer then obviously the beings ...
3
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3
answers
10k
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Is illogical = not logical?
I think law of excluded middle makes sense to mean that a statement should be either logical or illogical but in this case I don't assume "not logical" = "illogical" since the author didn't say "...
