Subject: Re: [HM] A question around zero
From: Ralph Gainey (sesame@mcn.org)
Date: Thu Jan 27 2000 - 11:19:50 EST
John Conway writes:
<To my mind, the "linguistic difference" here is certainly important,
as is the fact that Euclid wrote in Greek rather than English>
I have read that the ancient Greek language used both the definite
and the indefinite article, unique among the contemporary cultures.
This was said to give them an advantage in the consideration of
early math and logic questions, such as Plato's detailed treatment
of "the one and the many."
Could someone suggest a reference for this view?
I am interested as well in an argument that Plato's discourse
provides an early form of what is know as "the Russell Paradox."
Ralph Gainey
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