Paul Cohen’s philosophy of mathematics and its reflection in his mathematical practice
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Date
2023-08
Publication Type
Journal Article
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yes
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Abstract
This paper studies Paul Cohen’s philosophy of mathematics and mathematical practice as expressed in his writing on set-theoretic consistency proofs using his method of forcing. Since Cohen did not consider himself a philosopher and was somewhat reluctant about philosophy, the analysis uses semiotic and literary textual methodologies rather than mainstream philosophical ones. Specifically, I follow some ideas of Lévi-Strauss’s structural semiotics and some literary narratological methodologies. I show how Cohen’s reflections and rhetoric attempt to bridge what he experiences as an uncomfortable tension between reality and the formal by means of his notion of intuition.
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published
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Volume
202 (2)
Pages / Article No.
46
Publisher
Springer
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Subject
Structural semiotics; Lévi-Strauss; Narratology; Set theory; Consistency proofs; Forcing; Paul Cohen
Organisational unit
09591 - Wagner, Roy / Wagner, Roy