Category Archives: Category Theory

Relations & Their Relatives • 2

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Jon Awbrey

What is the relationship between “logical relatives” and “mathematical relations”?  The word relative used as a noun in logic is short for relative term — as such it refers to an item of language used to denote a formal object. … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Dyadic Relations, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Logical Graphs, Mathematics, Nominalism, Peirce, Pragmatism, Realism, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Triadic Relations, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Relations & Their Relatives • 1

Posted on February 17, 2015 by Jon Awbrey

Sign relations are special cases of triadic relations in much the same way binary operations in mathematics are special cases of triadic relations.  It amounts to a minor complication that we participate in sign relations whenever we talk or think … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Dyadic Relations, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Logical Graphs, Mathematics, Nominalism, Peirce, Pragmatism, Realism, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Triadic Relations, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Peirce’s 1880 “Algebra Of Logic” Chapter 3 • Preliminaries

Posted on January 30, 2015 by Jon Awbrey

Recurring questions about relations, especially triadic relations and sign relations, prompt a return to Peirce’s core papers on the logic of relative terms and the mathematics of relations in general.  I began a study of his Peirce’s 1870 “Logic of … Continue reading →

Posted in Algebra of Logic, Boolean Algebra, C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Dyadic Relations, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematics, Relation Theory, Relational Algebra, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Theory of Limits, Triadic Relations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

All Process, No Paradox • 5

Posted on January 21, 2014 by Jon Awbrey

In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Ilúvatar shook and a tremor ran out into the silences yet unmoved, Ilúvatar arose a third time, and his face was terrible to behold.  Then he raised up both his … Continue reading →

Posted in Animata, C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Cybernetics, Differential Logic, Laws of Form, Logic, Logical Graphs, Mathematics, Paradox, Peirce, Process, Semiotics, Spencer Brown, Systems Theory, Tertium Quid, Time, Tolkien | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Precursors Of Category Theory • 3

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Jon Awbrey

Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. Immanuel Kant (1785) Precursors Of Category Theory Peirce Cued by Kant’s idea on the function of concepts in … Continue reading →

Posted in Abstraction, Ackermann, Aristotle, C.S. Peirce, Carnap, Category Theory, Hilbert, Kant, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematics, Peirce, Peirce's Categories, Relation Theory, Saunders Mac Lane, Sign Relations, Type Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Precursors Of Category Theory • 2

Posted on December 30, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world only, our own, we see that world multiply itself and we have at our disposal as many worlds as there are original artists … ☙ Marcel Proust Precursors Of Category Theory When … Continue reading →

Posted in Abstraction, Ackermann, Aristotle, C.S. Peirce, Carnap, Category Theory, Hilbert, Kant, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematics, Peirce, Peirce's Categories, Relation Theory, Saunders Mac Lane, Sign Relations, Type Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Precursors Of Category Theory • 1

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

A few years back I began a sketch on the Precursors of Category Theory, aiming to trace the continuities of the category concept from Aristotle, thorough Kant and Peirce, Hilbert and Ackermann, to contemporary mathematical use.  Perhaps a few will … Continue reading →

Posted in Abstraction, Ackermann, Aristotle, C.S. Peirce, Carnap, Category Theory, Hilbert, Kant, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematics, Peirce, Peirce's Categories, Relation Theory, Saunders Mac Lane, Sign Relations, Type Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

⚠ It’s A Trap ⚠

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: Kenneth W. Regan • Graduate Student Traps The most common mathematical trap I run across has to do with Triadic Relation Irreducibility, as noted and treated by the polymath C.S. Peirce. This trap lies in the mistaken belief that every … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Descartes, Error, Fallibility, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematical Traps, Mathematics, Peirce, Pragmatism, Reductionism, Relation Theory, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Triadic Relations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Triadic Relation Irreducibility • 3

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

References Relation Theory OEIS Wiki • PlanetMath Triadic Relations OEIS Wiki • PlanetMath Sign Relations OEIS Wiki • PlanetMath Relation Composition OEIS Wiki • PlanetMath Relation Construction OEIS Wiki • PlanetMath Relation Reduction OEIS Wiki • PlanetMath Related Readings Notes … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Inquiry, Logic, Logic of Relatives, Mathematics, Peirce, Pragmatism, Relation Theory, Semiosis, Semiotics, Sign Relational Manifolds, Sign Relations, Teridentity, Thirdness, Triadic Relations | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Indicator Functions • 1

Posted on March 13, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: R.J. Lipton and K.W. Regan • Who Invented Boolean Functions? One of the things it helps to understand about 19th Century mathematicians, and those who built the bridge to the 20th, is that they were capable of high abstraction … Continue reading →

Posted in Abstraction, Boole, Boolean Functions, C.S. Peirce, Category Theory, Characteristic Functions, Euler, Indicator Functions, John Venn, Logic, Mathematics, Peirce, Propositional Calculus, Set Theory, Venn Diagrams, Visualization | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment