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A comment on Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics. Parent comment

Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by tel on Friday July 31, 2015 @11:55AM (#9982487)
> I have a sneaky suspicion...

You have no idea. The more I study this stuff the more I feel that all philosophical questions might be somehow encoded in there.

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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by AnimalMuppet on Friday July 31, 2015 @12:23PM (#9982639)
Sartre said that the great philosophical question is, why is there something instead of nothing? (This does not mean, why is there something in philosophy. Why is there something in the real world? Why does anything physically exist?) If your philosophy doesn't explain the real world, it isn't much of a philosophy. But I don't think set theory can explain that.

Two other great philosophical questions are: Where do we humans find meaning? And, what is the basis for morals and ethics? How do we determine what actions are right and wrong? Set theory isn't going to answer those questions at all.

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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by anthony_d on Friday July 31, 2015 @01:24PM (#9982969)
Sorry, but "Where do we humans find meaning?" isn't even a mediocre philosophical question. It's navel gazing by angst ridden teenagers.
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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by tel on Friday July 31, 2015 @02:00PM (#9983237)
It was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but I'd argue that mathematical foundations (maybe not set theory interpreted strictly) does take aim at answers to "why is there something?" and "where do humans find meaning?". Possibly by unifying the questions!
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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by valera_rozuvan on Friday July 31, 2015 @01:28PM (#9982999)
> Two other great philosophical questions are: Where do we humans find meaning? And, what is the basis for morals and ethics?

I think the best question is "What will humans do, when we find meaning to everything?". I hope that never happens.

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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by mindcrime on Friday July 31, 2015 @12:41PM (#9982740)
Two other great philosophical questions are: Where do we humans find meaning? And, what is the basis for morals and ethics? How do we determine what actions are right and wrong?

And Camus said that the one truly interesting philosophical problem is suicide.

http://www.camus-society.com/myth-of-sisyphus.html

Set theory isn't going to answer those questions at all.

Indeed.

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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by vezzy-fnord on Friday July 31, 2015 @01:14PM (#9982927)
Only if you're biased towards a realist philosophical view. Though admittedly it makes many feel warm and fuzzy, there's really no evidence for it over positions like intuitionism.
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Re:Set Theory and Foundations of Mathematics by tel on Friday July 31, 2015 @01:49PM (#9983155)
I'm not, but I can't see how you cannot study set theory without eventually studying intuitionism.
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