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Haha! How is category theory "metaphysical"? Your value judgments in this case actually seem dogmatic and nonsensical... which makes sense if it's derived from
by mbrock 10y ago
Haha! How is category theory "metaphysical"?
Your value judgments in this case actually seem dogmatic and nonsensical... which makes sense if it's derived from Ayn Rand.
- dschiptsov 10y agoLiterally. An abstract category is an abstract abstraction. That's the realm of metaphysics. Ayn Rand was a student of the classic Greek philosophy, nothing wrong with her.
- mbrock 10y agoLet's look at Wikipedia's definition. > Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it. Metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms: > Ultimately, what is there? What is it like? Does category theory have anything to do with that? No.
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago> > Ultimately, what is there? What is it like? > Does category theory have anything to do with that? No. I could argue that category theory is claiming to answer those questions for mathematics. (So is the axiomatization based on set theory.)
- mbrock 10y agoMaybe some mathematicians think like that, but many don't.
- lliamander 10y agoI have a great deal of respect for Rand and her ideas, despite not agreeing with them. However, her status as an intellectual heir of Aristotle is highly debatable. She's as much a disciple of Nietzsche as anyone. Meanwhile, metaphysics is a subject that stems directly from Greek philosophy: specifically the subjects addressed in Aristotle's work Metaphysics (literally "the book that came after Physics"). Spinoza's theory of monism is itself a metaphysical theory in this sense. Perhaps by metaphysics, you mean to certain metaphysical theories, such as the Idealism of the 18th century? edit: missing punctuation