The existence of analogies between central features
of various theories implies the existence of a general
theory which underlies the particular theories and
unifies them with respect to those central features.
until I returned home and looked at my files. He discusses related ideas at
length, but not in those words, in his presidential address, "On the
foundations of mathematics," delivered to the American Mathematical Society
(AMS) 29 December 1903. It's published in the Bulletin of the AMS, May
1903, 402-424. Moore cites Padoa's 1900 address to the International
Congress of Philosophy. A translation of part of that is included in van
Heijenoort, From Frege to Go"del.
James T. Smith, Professor
Department of Mathematics
San Francisco State University
1600 Holloway Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94132
415-338-1368 (office, message)
415-338-1461 (fax)
http://math.sfsu.edu/smith
smith@math.sfsu.edu