Category Archives: Logic

What part do arguments from authority play in mathematical reasoning?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

In forming your answer you may choose to address any or all of the following aspects of the question: Descriptive What part do arguments from authority actually play in mathematical reasoning? Normative What part do arguments from authority ideally play … Continue reading →

Posted in Artificial Intelligence, Authority, Control, Control Theory, Cybernetics, Fixation of Belief, History of Mathematics, History of Science, Information, Information Theory, Inquiry, Inquiry Driven Systems, Intelligent Systems, Intuition, Logic, Logic of Science, Mathematical Intuition, Mathematical Reasoning, Operations Research, Optimal Control, Optimization, Philosophy of Science, Scientific Method | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

C.S. Peirce : Information = Comprehension × Extension

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: R.J. Lipton and K.W. Regan • A Most Perplexing Mystery The inverse relationship between symmetry and diversity — that we see for example in the lattice-inverting map of a Galois correspondence — is a variation on an old theme … Continue reading →

Posted in C.S. Peirce, Comprehension, Diversity, Extension, Information, Information = Comprehension × Extension, Inquiry, Intension, Logic, Logic of Science, Peirce, Reciprocity, Semiotics, Sign Relations, Symmetry, Variety | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Finding a Needle in a Cactus Patch

Posted on April 30, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: R.J. Lipton • Sex, Lies, And Quantum Computers Don’t know much about quantum computation, but my ventures in graphical syntaxes for propositional calculus did turn up a logical operator whose evaluation process reminded me a little of the themes … Continue reading →

Posted in Boolean Functions, C.S. Peirce, Cactus Graphs, Computational Complexity, Graph Theory, Logic, Logical Graphs, Minimal Negation Operators, Painted Cacti, Peirce, Propositional Calculus, Quantum Computing, Semiotics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

What It Is

Posted on April 13, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: Gil Kalai If I remember my long ago readings well enough, Jimmy the Ancient Greek could lay odds as well as any modern bookmaker on the outcomes of Olympic contests, but that was not really the point of Zeno’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Change, Heraclitus, Infinity, Logic, Mathematics, Motion, Paradox, Parmenides, Phenomenology, Zeno | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Slip Slidin’ Away

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

And you give me the choice between a description that is sure but that teaches me nothing and hypotheses that claim to teach me but that are not sure. — Albert Camus • The Myth of Sisyphus Re: R.J. Lipton … Continue reading →

Posted in Albert Camus, C.S. Peirce, Change, Differential Logic, Infinity, Lewis Carroll, Logic, Mathematics, Meno, Modus Ponens, Motion, Paradox, Phenomenology, Sisyphus, Syllogism, Time, Zeno | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Present Is Big With The Future

Posted on April 1, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Now that I have proved sufficiently that everything comes to pass according to determinate reasons, there cannot be any more difficulty over these principles of God’s foreknowledge.  Although these determinations do not compel, they cannot but be certain, and they … Continue reading →

Posted in Causality, Certainty, Chance, Contingency, Determination, Determinism, Differential Calculus, Differential Logic, Evil, Free Will, Freedom, Hologrammautomaton, Infinitesimals, Leibniz, Preëstablished Harmony, Theodicy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

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

Riffs and Rotes • 2

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: Peter Cameron • Addition and Multiplication of Natural Numbers The interaction between addition and multiplication in the natural numbers has long been an interest of mine, leading to broader questions about the relationship between algebra and combinatorics.  My gropings … Continue reading →

Posted in Arithmetic, Combinatorics, Graph Theory, Group Theory, Logic, Mathematics, Number Theory, Riffs and Rotes | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

I Wonder, Wonder Who

Posted on February 25, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Re: R.J. Lipton and K.W. Regan • Who Invented Boolean Functions? The question recalls recent discussions of discovery and invention in the mathematical field, bringing back to mind questions I’ve wondered about for as long as I can remember. Speaking … Continue reading →

Posted in Anamnesis, Aristotle, Boole, Boolean Functions, C.S. Peirce, Discovery, Invention, Learning, Logic, Mathematics, Meno, Model Theory, Peirce, Plato, Propositional Calculus, Recollection, Semiotics, Socrates, Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Notes On Categories • 1

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Jon Awbrey

Continued from “Notes On Categories” (14 Jul 2003) • Inquiry List • Ontology List NB.  This page is a work in progress.  I will have to dig up some still older notes from the days of pen and paper before … Continue reading →

Posted in Abstraction, Category Theory, Computing, Graph Theory, Logic, Mathematics, Relation Theory, Type Theory | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments