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Foundations goes back to Cantor and Frege, at least. Set theorists have made a Whig History of sorts where everything leads to ZFC, but that is just their post
by Ericson2314 5y ago
Foundations goes back to Cantor and Frege, at least.
Set theorists have made a Whig History of sorts where everything leads to ZFC, but that is just their post-hoc reading of the intellectual history.
We can write Whig Histories too. See https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/papers/frege/frege.pdf https://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/wadler/papers/frege/frege.pdf for example.
The fact is both narratives are wrong --- intellectual history is always more pluralistic and meandering than partisans want to admit in hindsight. We, as the underdogs, are ready to admit that. Can you all do the same?
- spekcular 5y agoThat link talks almost entirely about implications for programming and not mathematics. I recommend the Penelope Maddy article linked in a comment above for a more in-depth discussion of the relevant history and aims of the field. She says things much more clearly than I can.
- Ericson2314 5y agoYes, my point is "functional programming" and "ZFC" are both not predestined as the inevitable conclusion the ideas preceding them would lead up to.