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Transfinite set theory including the axiom of choice supplies the following basic theorems: (1) Mappings between infinite sets can always be completed, such that at least one of the sets is exhausted. (2) The real numbers can be well…
Aristotelian assertoric syllogistic, which is currently of growing interest, has attracted the attention of the founders of modern logic, who approached it in several (semantical and syntactical) ways. Further approaches were introduced…
We discuss views about whether the universe can be rationally comprehended, starting with Plato, then Leibniz, and then the views of some distinguished scientists of the previous century. Based on this, we defend the thesis that…
In this paper we use theoretical frameworks from mathematics education and cognitive psychology to analyse Cauchy's ideas of function, continuity, limit and infinitesimal expressed in his Cours D'Analyse. Our analysis focuses on the…
We present a coherent collection of finite mathematical theorems some of which can only be proved by going well beyond the usual axioms for mathematics. The proofs of these theorems illustrate in clear terms how one uses the well studied…
This text tries to give an elementary introduction to the mathematical properties of infinite sets. The aim is to keep the approach as simple as possible. Advanced knowledge of mathematics is not necessary for a proper understanding, and…
Ultrafinitism postulates that we can only compute on relatively short objects, and numbers beyond certain value are not available. This approach would also forbid many forms of infinitary reasoning and allow to remove certain paradoxes…
Fermat, Leibniz, Euler, and Cauchy all used one or another form of approximate equality, or the idea of discarding "negligible" terms, so as to obtain a correct analytic answer. Their inferential moves find suitable proxies in the context…
Leibniz used the term fiction in conjunction with infinitesimals. What kind of fictions they were exactly is a subject of scholarly dispute. The position of Bos and Mancosu contrasts with that of Ishiguro and Arthur. Leibniz's own views,…
It has been widely believed for half a century that there will never exist a nonlinear theory of generalized functions, in any mathematical context. The aim of this text is to show the converse is the case and invite the reader to…
We present a unified categorical treatment of completeness theorems for several classical and intuitionistic infinitary logics with a proposed axiomatization. This provides new completeness theorems and subsumes previous ones by G\"odel,…
In Early Transcendentals (The American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 104, No 7) Steven Weintraub presents a rigorous justifcation of the "early transcendental" calculus textbook approach to the exponential and logarithmic functions. However,…
From 1873 to 1897, Georg Cantor worked on developing set theory, and despite a strong initial resistance, it rapidly became accepted as the foundation of mathematics. In this work, however, we'll demonstrate that Cantor's use of infinity is…
The program Reverse Mathematics in the foundations of mathematics seeks to identify the minimal axioms required to prove theorems of ordinary mathematics. One always assumes the base theory, a logical system embodying computable…
We investigate the elimination of quantifiers in first-order formulas via Hilbert's epsilon-operator (or -binder), following Bernays' explicit definitions of the existential and the universal quantifier symbol by means of epsilon-terms.…
Historian Herbert Mehrtens sought to portray the history of turn-of-the-century mathematics as a struggle of modern vs countermodern, led respectively by David Hilbert and Felix Klein. Some of Mehrtens' conclusions have been picked up by…
The critique against using Boltzmann's microcanonical entropy, an "ensemble measure", as foundation of statistics is rebuffed. The confusion of the microcanonical distribution with the exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs (``BG'') distribution is…
We examine some recent scholarship on Leibniz's philosophy of the infinitesimal calculus. We indicate difficulties that arise in articles by Bassler, Knobloch, and Arthur, due to a denial to Leibniz's infinitesimals of the status of…
The idea of the principle of nested intervals or the concept of convergent sequences which is equivalent to this idea dates back to the ancient world. Archimedes calculated the unknown in excess and deficiency, approximating with two sets…
This paper is devoted to one of the members of the G\"ottingen triumvirate, Gau{\ss}, Dirichlet and Riemann. It is the latter to whom I wish to pay tribute, and especially to his world-famous article of 1859, which he presented in person at…