Geneaology of Specious Dualisms

[Curtiss Leung]

Hi Ted:

I think we're talking past each other on some of these
points.  I wrote:

>> To illustrate what I mean, here's a question about
>> mathematical objects: did the transfinite cardinals
>> (the numbers that describe different orders of
>> infinity) exist before Cantor "discovered" them?

And you replied:

> No.  And they will no longer exist if we forget 
> about them.

And I agree with this, which was why I put quotes
around "discovered", but also why I chose the
transfinite cardinals.  But I have to disagree when
you go on to say:

> To put the matter more plainly, 2 + 2 did not equal 
> 4 until somebody created the concepts of "number," 
> "addition," and "equal."

I'm not going to declare "God made the integers, all
the rest is the work of man!" as Brouwer did, but my
*gut feeling* (can't get more unscientific than that)
is with the *positive integers and their properties*
(I'm restricting it to that set because I believe the
Greeks had trouble with 0) we may have entities that
are innate to the brain and its processes.

On another topic, you made a distinction that I find
bewildering, i.e., that descriptions are not
representations.  If anything it seems (there goes
that gut feeling again, no science today boy) that
what are called "descriptions" are a proper subset of
what are called "representations."
--
Curtiss

"Blood and broken glass all over the floor, it's just
like home" -- William Gaddis

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Talk to your friends online with Yahoo! Messenger.
http://im.yahoo.com